Debt Burden: Stories from the Art Institutes
Over the past few months, we have been writing about the Art Institutes, a network of schools with very aggressive marketing tactics, which purposely mislead students into attending their institutions, funding their education with high-interest private loans. Many students realize after graduation that their degrees aren’t as marketable as they were led to believe, or they try to transfer schools and realize that they will lose all of their credits, despite paying tuition rates comparable to far more reputable 4-year colleges.
While there has been a growing understanding of the criminal tactics of for-profit colleges like the Art Institutes, especially due to recent lawsuits from Federal and State governments, there are many people, mostly on the right-wing, who still believe that today’s students, many of whom are paying more for tuition than ever in history, are just entitled and lazy and should be blamed for deciding to attend high-priced schools. These people are very ignorant to the socioeconomic pressures imposed upon students to get a higher education regardless of the price. They are also likely not aware of the aggressiveness of Art Institutes admissions staff, and their deceitful misrepresentations of the post-graduation job placement rates.
Our goal is to share stories about the Art Institutes, directly from the students themselves. Many people, including staff members, have already spoke out about their experiences to the media, and the yelp pages of each Art Institutes campus is filled with mostly bad reviews and horror stories. A few months ago, we asked students who have been negatively effected by the Goldman Sachs and hedge fund owned school to send us their experiences. We hope that through collecting and sharing these narratives, we can build solidarity among students, and understanding among those who don’t realize how exploitative and profit-driven these schools are, and the drastic burden they can impose on a student’s life.
Here are the first four stories we received, posted exactly as they were written. We have kept the contributors anonymous. If you are a student of Art Institutes or EDMC-owned schools and would like to add your voice, connect with us. Also, check out our Twitter and Facebook accounts. We are not a loan.
Story #1:
“I was taken advantage of at 18 by a for-profit institution owned by Goldman Sachs (The Art Institutes). I showed nothing to get into the school and was accepted automatically, I didn’t even have to fill out an application. The predatory loan sharks in financial aid make sure that you are approved for loans and then they have you sit on loans accumulating interest ($55,000 tuition with interest rates of 13.75% from Sallie Mae). The people in the financial aid office threaten that if you don’t get approved for these massive amounts of loans that you won’t get into courses in time and then you won’t graduate, giving you a week to get approved for $50k and up. They can’t even explain to you what these amounts are for. I am 28 years old now and have $145,000 student debt. Last year I paid $24,000 in interest alone. I can only deduct $2500 of that from my taxes. I have paid $70k, yet the amount has only grown to $145k. I am working in a career path different from my major at The Art Institutes, yet 90% of my income is going towards my student loans. They won’t work with me to consolidate or lower the interest rate in any capacity. This has to change. We can’t keep taking advantage of students, we will never get ahead. I have now accepted that I am going to die with this debt, I will never have children, and I will never own a house. But in the scenario I wanted to gamble, max credit cards out at Prada, buy a house I can’t afford, I am then completely protected by bankruptcy and consumer protection laws.”
Story #2
“I came across your site just by chance after searching for any news about pending lawsuits against the Art Institute. I was a victim of their predatory lending practices and feel just as victimized as the Corinthian College students.
This past Monday, I received a garnishment from payroll indicating they would be taking out 15% of my pay to put towards my defaulted student loans. Over the past three years, I’ve attempted to work with Sallie Mae — both federal and private — to get an affordable payment for loans. Needless to say, I never qualified for income-based repayment, and the private loan collectors are harsh, in-sensitive pricks who could care less how much money you have to put toward as a payment. I actually had one person at Sallie Mae say, “We all want to go out to eat, go on vacation, and put money away for a rainy day, but bills have to be paid.” I was facing a much bigger financial burden not paying for them; now, I had to try to make payment on top of the little money I had.
I wasn’t even really managing the payments. The payments put me behind on my rent payments, utilities, and to try to scrounge up any cash for gas and other necessities, I donated plasma twice a week for $50. I did that until I depleted my ability to do so, and they eventually deferred me from doing that.
I have been unable to find a job that pays more for two reasons: first, employers in my area do not find the Art Institute listed on my resume as a legitimate school. I’ve been unable to get my foot in the door at another company making significant income. Second, now that my credit has been negatively impacted, employers who run credit checks instantly discredit me for positions.
I realize now that I probably will be co-dependent on someone else for the rest of my life because I have no options. The loans will never be paid off — a whopping $96,000. I was initially quoted about $60,000 at AI for a bachelors — and since I carry horrible credit, I can’t secure another apartment, get a new car if I need to, and I will never have any savings. I hate it because they have no idea what it is like to hope that your significant other sticks around and doesn’t mind being the one who bears the weight of responsibility because you’re financially unable to do so yourself. Even if I were able to pay the loans, I couldn’t afford to live on my own. There’s no going back home for me, and family is not there to help me out.
I can’t wait to see what how I can manage living off my new take home pay. I wasn’t even making a lot of money. I brought home $928. Now with the garnishment, I will take home $788. That’s scary considering right now I’m the breadwinner in my home. That’s really not a lot of money anymore. This isn’t 1970.
The Art Institute should be held accountable for the atrocities of financial ruin of their students and for stealing money from taxpayers. Since the issue is rarely ever discussed, you have coddled Baby Boomers who blame students for the problem. Those that had cushy jobs with very little to no education, bought homes on one salary, and cared for a family with one salary.
AI used the students as a funnel to siphon the money available for their own pockets. What’s worse is they know they have a high default rate with loans, but they continue to work with Sallie Mae who then turns and puts the blame on students.
Because I’m seriously scared and without a way to actually do anything, I’ve gotten serious about suicide. It’s the only recourse I have. For right now, I have the support of a great boyfriend, but should I lose that — considering I do not have kids, and I’m not married — I don’t really have anyone to keep going for. My life is essentially ruined because AI will stay in business and Congress took away bankruptcy protections and has no intention of helping students or returning bankruptcy. As long as Sallie Mae and other banks can continue to throw money at politicians for their campaigns, they will always fight for the bank. My generation does not stand a chance.
Now everyday, even with a garnishment, I still receive calls from debt collectors — at one point a skip trace company was looking for me. I even had one auto-dialer call me at 7:45 a.m. on a Saturday morning.”
Story #3:
“Hello. I just read about your website via change.org. I signed a petition regarding the Art Institutes fraudulent ways and whatnot. It asked to offer the “horror” stories so I decided to share mine. What’s made me share it? I suppose its the fact that I find myself without hope!
I graduated in 2010 from the Ai in Fort Lauderdale. I was never in a position to pay for my student loans at a proper humane rate. Now, years later I find myself indebted for 50,000. Which has been split into 12 loans, all getting interests on their own, and those 12 loans are owned by 3 different borrowers.
Since I was never able to establish any payments, the Dept. of Education claims my tax return. It claimed it last. This year I have filed an extension on my taxes because I was hoping to get all this junk sorted out. I looked into consolidating but I CANNOT afford 500 dollars a month. It’s just insane.
Now on 2015 at only 29 years old I have a credit score lower than 500, I cant rent my own apartment, or buy a car. Without credit or money, nothing can be done.
As of this writing, I live in Los Angeles, CA. My current job pay and housing situation have me moving at the moment. Its so difficult to find a place that’ll work for me that Im thinking of just leaving the city and going back home. Im tired of being stuck, all thanks to a system that wont let me move on.
Why should I pay such steep prices for an organization that has been proven to be thieves with my money? They didn’t even take my money. Worse! They’ve taken my identity. I’m branded and listed into the slavery of the bottom class.”
Story #4:
“My mom was trying to get me in an art school I wanted to go to the university of arts in california or in nyc. I went to the art institute in Philadelphia 2008…. It wasn’t bad at first but i realized something was up after 3 months ppl kept leaving dropping out…. Then out of no where i owed all this money I couldn’t figure out why. It just got worse …. I couldn’t transfer credits to schools I wanted to go to even going into different programs at Ai. then in 2013 Of July I just quit. They were getting rid of my major…. indusAnd weren’t running classes I needed….. Ughhhhhhh I’m scared to go to school for something else because I’m in debt so bad I love art but This truly ruined my college experience. From horrible teachers to horrible financial aid offices
I forgot to state my name i was so mad lol my Name is Aunie. I went to Ai Philadelphia 2008–2013. Still didnt graduate but have debt like i did. Yes I notice things where wrong when ppl where quitting my major or certain ppl like advisors where getting fired. My teachers became more out there not knowing what the hell they were doing… Then my major got canceled Industrial design 2013… The interior design advisor was head of industrial design like wtf…. We had drunks teaching us…. Teachers would be late … It was very depressing…. I was no where near graduating because it felt like years kept getting added on I was getting no where….i had to take way to many general ed classes….it just didn’t make sense….I couldn’t transfer my credits to the school I wanted to go to like nothing would work… i still wanna go back to school but I don’t want no bull shit connect… i wanna be debt free from them so I can start over again. I thank my mom for putting me in college but she put me in the wrong one she just thought it would be better to go to the art institute rather then go to the university of arts in California and nyc.
She didn’t know what was totally going on. I feel like she probably thought I was making excuses or lying about what was going on there. Is there anyway we can get debt free so I can go to school for a career I want to do. I always wanted to be a designer but idk what actual art school to trust.”
This needs to end. We are demanding complete loan forgiveness for all students of Art Institutes, Brown Mackie College, Argosy College, and South University.
Originally published at www.angrymillennials.com on June 30, 2015.
