DeVry University
Recent Actions and Concerns
DeVry University is currently owned by Cogswell Education LLC, after changing ownership several times in the past from DeVry Educational Group to Adtalem Global Education. Cogswell Education is controlled by private equity firms.
Government and Other Actions
- In 2020, a class action lawsuit brought by alumni against DeVry and its parent company settled for $44.95 million for manipulating graduate employment statistics and salary outcomes in order to induce students to enroll in Keller Graduate School of Management.
- A 2018 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General report found unsupported claims by the school that 90% of students who actively sought employment achieved it within six months of graduation.
- In 2016, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs suspended DeVry’s “Principles of Excellence” status for misrepresentations of post-graduation employment outcomes and a failure to provide students with sufficient information on total program costs.
- In 2016, DeVry settled with the U.S. Department of Education over deceptive advertising of job placement rates and graduate earnings. The settlement required DeVry to correct its misrepresentations and post a letter of credit amounting to at least $68.4 million.
- In 2016, DeVry paid $100 million to settle a U.S. Federal Trade Commission complaint alleging that DeVry deceptively advertised job placement rates and graduate earnings.
- In 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice investigated DeVry for a failure to provide certain applicants with necessary information on degree and employment requirements. The DOJ ultimately declined to intervene in the related False Claims Act lawsuit.
- In 2013-2014, three state attorneys general (IL, MA, and NY) investigated DeVry for deceptively advertising graduate earnings and having illegal compensation incentive schemes. DeVry was required to pay $2.25 million in restitution and $500,000 in penalties and fees as part of a settlement with the NY attorney general.
Student Outcomes
- According to U.S. Department of Education data, (referenced February 5, 2021), of students at DeVry-Illinois (the highest-attended DeVry branch),
- 49% of full-time, first-time undergraduates return after their first year at the school.
- However, only 19% of students graduate within eight years of entering (counting full-time, part-time, and transfer students). Another 47% of students withdraw within eight years, and 34% transfer elsewhere.
- After graduation, DeVry students have a median total debt of $13,159 to $51,188. 45% of students with federal loans are either not making progress, defaulted, or delinquent in their repayment after two years.