Covering the business of education and training

Career Education Corporation's (NasdaqGS:CECO - News) California Culinary Academy is being sued for fraud.

"The company's profit-oriented approach to education crossed the line into fraud on a massive scale at its California Culinary Academy vocational school, victimizing thousands of students seeking a better life and income as a degreed professional chef," says the class action suit.

CEC is accused of misrepresenting:

1. that its admissions were selective

2. its program is elite

3. its degree prestigious

4. well-paying jobs would be waiting

The lawyer representing the former CCA students:

"We expect to prove that the California Culinary Academy, CEC's once-elite culinary school in San Francisco, misrepresented and hid the truth of its increasingly poor reputation and inability to place graduates in well-paying jobs-and did so acting under CEC's instructions. We also expect to prove that CEC, CCA, or their personnel accepted undisclosed benefits from lenders to place students in loans that exceeded market rates."

I used to teach for a CEC school and my opinion may be somewhat prejudiced.

But I think, CEC will indeed have their hands full with this case.

There is nothing wrong with for-profit education IF it is done right.

CEC had/has some serious self-examination to do.