4 ms·

Glad to see this, Lambda School is extremely scummy. Can’t be bothered to operate legally, and lied about it: https://twitter.com/sandofsky/status/1211717254712

by vcsmjk 4y ago

Glad to see this, Lambda School is extremely scummy. Can’t be bothered to operate legally, and lied about it: https://twitter.com/sandofsky/status/1211717254712135680?lang=en https://twitter.com/sandofsky/status/1211717254712135680?lan... I really think that the law should be changed so that doing stuff like that would have been a prison term for the CEO (Allred).

avalys 4y ago
A prison term for not registering with some bureaucratic state agency? Why? The “California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education”? This is indistinguishable from parody.
- sandofsky 4y ago
  The BPPE was formed because California was the world capital of diploma-mills in the 80's. It falls under consumer protection, similar to how California has a special bureau that punishes scummy "extended warranty" companies. The reason you register is so the state can periodically check your marketing material and field students complaints. For example, Lambda School lied about how many students get jobs, and it would have been real nice for the agency to have stepped in before the lawsuits, which are still in litigation.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- rrss 4y ago
  Why is it unreasonable to have people in a government agency to address fraudulent colleges and stuff? Do you feel the same way about the bureau of consumer protection in the US FTC?
  - lmm 4y ago
    You don't have to register or get a license from the FTC to open a business. At least I hope you don't.
    - ffssffss 4y ago
      It's not about the importance of the act of filing paperwork, it's the fraud of lying to customers that you are following the law and then taking their money. For what it's worth, I don't think prison would help. But maybe some non-dischargable liabilities and a ban from being a corporate officer would.
      - austenallred 4y ago
        If you were actually to commit fraud regulators can come for you whether you register or not. The act of registration is simply to make it easier to tell regulators what is happening.
- swang720 4y ago
  I'm actually glad there's a state department for this. Fraudulent private colleges are a _real_ problem.
SamReidHughes 4y ago
Ah yes, prison for trying to teach something useful across a zillion regulatory domains, sinecures for administrators at “real” universities while students rack up piles of debt for English degrees.
- ramraj07 4y ago
  Just because one route is rotten doesn’t validate alternate scummy routes. Cops are rotten so drug dealers are good? Lol.
austenallred 4y ago
This is fundamentally not what happened and a prison term for this would be insane (even California's BPPE would agree with that). Our counsel told us we didn't need to register with the BPPE because we weren't offering in-person classes (this was somewhat rare back in 2017 - certainly more rare than now). The BPPE sent us a letter that said we needed to register and we did so and began working with the BPPE instantly. We never ever lied about that fact, and there was no attempt to avoid regulation in any way.
ec109685 4y ago
https://applieddivinitystudies.com/lambda-lies/ https://applieddivinitystudies.com/lambda-lies/ He also lied about having an auditor verify their placement rates. Caught asking Bookface for an auditor reference while proclaiming it was audited.
- austenallred 4y ago
  No, that is not true. We never claimed to have an audited report until we actually had an audited report. I asked if there was an auditor who would verify them after the fact to show that they were accurate, but we had had never claimed they were audited at that point. Unfortunately auditors doing that is a months-long process, so we could only have them audit subsequent reports (which they have done).

by vcsmjk 4y ago

avalys 4y ago

A prison term for not registering with some bureaucratic state agency? Why? The “California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education”? This is indistinguishable from parody.

sandofsky 4y ago
The BPPE was formed because California was the world capital of diploma-mills in the 80's. It falls under consumer protection, similar to how California has a special bureau that punishes scummy "extended warranty" companies. The reason you register is so the state can periodically check your marketing material and field students complaints. For example, Lambda School lied about how many students get jobs, and it would have been real nice for the agency to have stepped in before the lawsuits, which are still in litigation.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
rrss 4y ago
Why is it unreasonable to have people in a government agency to address fraudulent colleges and stuff? Do you feel the same way about the bureau of consumer protection in the US FTC?
- lmm 4y ago
  You don't have to register or get a license from the FTC to open a business. At least I hope you don't.
  - ffssffss 4y ago
    It's not about the importance of the act of filing paperwork, it's the fraud of lying to customers that you are following the law and then taking their money. For what it's worth, I don't think prison would help. But maybe some non-dischargable liabilities and a ban from being a corporate officer would.
    - austenallred 4y ago
      If you were actually to commit fraud regulators can come for you whether you register or not. The act of registration is simply to make it easier to tell regulators what is happening.
swang720 4y ago
I'm actually glad there's a state department for this. Fraudulent private colleges are a _real_ problem.

SamReidHughes 4y ago

Ah yes, prison for trying to teach something useful across a zillion regulatory domains, sinecures for administrators at “real” universities while students rack up piles of debt for English degrees.

ramraj07 4y ago
Just because one route is rotten doesn’t validate alternate scummy routes. Cops are rotten so drug dealers are good? Lol.

austenallred 4y ago

This is fundamentally not what happened and a prison term for this would be insane (even California's BPPE would agree with that). Our counsel told us we didn't need to register with the BPPE because we weren't offering in-person classes (this was somewhat rare back in 2017 - certainly more rare than now). The BPPE sent us a letter that said we needed to register and we did so and began working with the BPPE instantly. We never ever lied about that fact, and there was no attempt to avoid regulation in any way.

ec109685 4y ago

https://applieddivinitystudies.com/lambda-lies/ https://applieddivinitystudies.com/lambda-lies/ He also lied about having an auditor verify their placement rates. Caught asking Bookface for an auditor reference while proclaiming it was audited.

austenallred 4y ago
No, that is not true. We never claimed to have an audited report until we actually had an audited report. I asked if there was an auditor who would verify them after the fact to show that they were accurate, but we had had never claimed they were audited at that point. Unfortunately auditors doing that is a months-long process, so we could only have them audit subsequent reports (which they have done).