Following are just a few examples of how Corinthian misled students:

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1 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: Marie Condron, (213) May 4, 2015 Students Take Legal Action, Demand Seat at the Table In State of California Suit Against Now-Defunct Corinthian Colleges Corinthian students seek to intervene, creating landmark, first-of-its-kind opportunity for interests of entire class of students to be heard LOS ANGELES, CA Dozens of students of the now-collapsed Corinthian schools and their supporters and families gathered today at the offices of Public Counsel to announce they will be taking legal action to intervene in the State of California s lawsuit against Corinthian and its subsidiaries, to ensure their voices are heard in a case that will significantly affect their finances and their futures. The students the very people who are most affected by the unlawful, unfair and fraudulent business practices that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau called a predatory lending scheme and which led to Corinthian Colleges demise seek to represent their own interests in the State of California s suit. The suit has potential to provide resolution to these students, including the ability to take advantage of existing laws to access debt relief, tuition repayment or refunds as well as opportunities to pursue their education at accredited, reputable schools. I want more than anything to see the door opened for all students who were harmed by these schools to finally have their voices recognized, said Aeyla Admire, a former student at Everest College, a subsidiary of Corinthian Colleges, Inc., who was misled by Everest about her program s accreditation and how her education would be financed. We, the students, are the ones who are paying back these loans we didn t authorize and have had our credit ratings decimated by this debt. The students originally planned to file a motion to intervene this morning in San Francisco, until reports surfaced that Corinthian Colleges, Inc. filed for bankruptcy today. The legal team, led by attorneys from Public Counsel s Opportunity Under Law project, which combats economic injustice in all its forms through litigation and other means, and the law firms Strumwasser & Woocher, LLP, and Lewis Feinberg Lee & Jackson, P.C., will now take action in any and all courts in which these interests are at stake. This is urgent business. By this action, the first of its kind in the nation, the students the real victims in this unnecessary and heartbreaking scandal who trusted the representations of Corinthian Colleges will have their specific interests represented. These students were offered one of the most precious gifts of a democracy the promise to access an education, said Mark Rosenbaum, Director of Public Counsel Opportunity Under Law program, and instead, they became victims of fraud. These students only failure was they trusted the promises of con artists costumed as educators and believed too much in our national credo that the only sure way to opportunity is through schoolhouse doors. (more) 1

2 No one is affected more by the misrepresentations of Corinthian than the former students, who thought they were accessing a higher education in pursuit of the American dream and instead became victims to a predatory lender, said Fredric Woocher, Strumwasser & Woocher, LLP. Following are just a few examples of how Corinthian misled students: Jaclyn Dingess attended the Everest paralegal program from When she signed up for her first loan of $7,000, she was told that would be the cost for the entire program, but she later found out the school took out additional loans for her without informing her. On several occasions, Everest employees took her out of class and asked her to complete what they called an online survey; she later discovered they were taking out additional loans without her knowledge. She now owes over $40,000 in public and private loans. Read Jacyln s story. Tiffany Contreras enrolled in Everest s paralegal program in April 2013 and was nine weeks from graduating with Everest closed its doors on April 27, She currently owes over $47,000 in subsidized and unsubsidized federal loans, as well as a private Genesis loan. The week before the school closed, she was asked to pay a $500 repack fee and was told by an employee of the financial aid office that the school had been repackaging students loans without their permission. Read Tiffany s story. Sarah Dieffenbacher is a mother of four and the first person in her family to go to college. She studied at Everest College from to become a legal assistant and was shocked to learn from a potential employer that her program was not recognized, let alone ABA accredited as Everest had assured her it was. She was also shocked to discover she now owes $110,000 in loans loans that the school took out in her name without notifying her. Read Sarah s story. Tasha Courtright had the highest grade point average at Everest College s Ontario campus, where she completed an associate s degree in criminal justice and a bachelor s in business management. Everest recruiters aggressively pursued her, assuring her she would be earning $45,000 per year after completing her degree and claiming a 91% job placement success rate in placing students, which turned out to be untrue. She told them she could not afford college, and they told her they ran the numbers and assured her that grants would cover the cost of her program. She now owes $41,000 in debt and has never been able to obtain documentation of her loans. Read Tasha s story. Aeyla Admire, who completed Everest College s medical assistant training program in with straight A s, is the first person in her family to go to college. She wanted to access a higher education so she could gain the financial security she never had growing up as the child of a single mother working minimum-wage jobs. Instead, Everest failed to help her access the job placement resources they had promised and misled her about her financial aid; they took out over $17,000 in public and private loans without her authorization. Read Aeyla s story. Following are frequently asked questions and a timeline of events related to Corinthian. ### About Public Counsel Public Counsel is the nation's largest pro bono law firm. Founded in 1970, Public Counsel strives to achieve three main goals: protect the legal rights of disadvantaged children; represent immigrants who have been the victims of torture, persecution, domestic violence, trafficking, and 2

3 other crimes; and foster economic justice by providing individuals and institutions in underserved communities with access to quality legal representation. Through a pro bono model that leverages the talents and dedication of thousands of attorney and law student volunteers, along with an in-house staff of more than 75 attorneys and social workers, Public Counsel annually assists more than 30,000 families, children, immigrants veterans, and nonprofit organizations and addresses systemic poverty and civil rights issues through impact litigation and policy advocacy. For more information, visit 3

4 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Corinthian Students Motion to Intervene 1. Why is this action necessary? No one is affected more by the misrepresentations of Corinthian Colleges than the former students, who thought they were accessing a higher education in pursuit of the American dream and instead became victims to a predatory lender. The State of California s suit implicates the students rights, including their potential right to have their loans discharged, and to provide refunds.these students are seeking to intervene in the lawsuit to ensure their voices are heard in a case that will significantly affect their finances and their futures. 2. What do the students want out of this lawsuit? The State of California filed suit against Corinthian Colleges, Inc., in October 2013 on behalf of the taxpayers of California, for false and predatory advertising, intentional misrepresentations to students, securities fraud and unlawful use of military seals in advertisements. While it s critical that taxpayers recover the public funds that made up nearly all of Corinthian s revenue, the stakes are highest for former students, who should have a seat at the table in this suit. Tens of thousands of former students were the primary victims of Corinthian s predatory practices. They want their interests to be represented, including: They want to have their loan debt discharged--the federal defense to repayment regulation permits a discharge of a debt to a school that has violated the law. They want the debt relief to be class-wide. They have had their credit destroyed, their lives ruined, and years of sacrifice wasted. Many are working in the same minimum wage jobs that they would have been working in had they not gone to Corinthian schools, only now they have crushing debt as well. They want to be paid back money they were forced to pay for a phony education that did them no good. They want an opportunity to get the education they were looking for before Corinthian derailed their lives. This could involve the right to transfer or to enroll in a public school, or a waiver of fees. They want to ensure that Corinthian is prevented from doing what they did to these students in the future. 3. Why are they acting now? Since this lawsuit was filed in 2013, more information has come to light about the broad scope and impact of Corinthian College s illegal practices so much so that the company buckled under the pressure and abruptly closed its doors in April The need is particularly urgent now because of the closure of the remaining campuses. Some of the intervenors are students who until last week were still attending these schools. There have been no hearings on the merits in this case, and discovery has been stayed. Intervention has become even more necessary since the federal Department of Education recently announced its plan to create a formal process for students to discharge their loans on the grounds that their school violated their rights under state law. Meanwhile, other for-profit colleges who are also under investigation are now pursuing the students who were victims of this fraud and attempting to persuade them to take actions against their own interests that would invalidate their ability to pursue relief. It s become clear that the students of Corinthian must have an opportunity to participate in this suit to ensure that the students interests are fully represented in any further resolution. 4

5 4. How will a potential bankruptcy filing by Corinthian affect this action? This case will go forward no matter what. We have not seen the reported bankruptcy filing, and we will need to review those papers before moving forward. However, there are mechanisms to obtain relief from a stay in bankruptcy court, so that we can proceed in state court--as well as mechanisms to participate in the bankruptcy process. 5. Aren t the students already represented by the Attorney General in the state s lawsuit on behalf of the people of California? The Attorney General represents the people of the State of California in this suit and she represents investors in Corinthian, but she does not represent the students. In fact, the state s web site advises Corinthian students to consider contacting an attorney to explore your options. This intervention is not a criticism of her, but instead a recognition that the people who have the most to lose in this case--students who are in debt for tens of thousands of dollars, most of whom earn minimum wage--have the right to a seat at the table. The decisions the Attorney General could make during litigation or regarding an acceptable compromise could be far different than what the individual students who are affected would make. Finally, her pursuit of statutory penalties and relief for investors in Corinthian will determine the amount that is recoverable or available on behalf of the students who were the direct victims of Corinthian s practices. Both California and federal courts have a process in the law to let parties whose interests are affected by a lawsuit intervene in a case so they can protect their interests. Students should have a voice in that determination, and will have that opportunity as intervenors. 6. Why should Corinthian students have their debt forgiven, when there are plenty of students in debt to other for-profit colleges who won t get the same benefit? Unlike most of America s colleges and universities, Corinthian s programs and practices were so fraudulent that they could not stand up to criminal and civil investigations and led to the company s eventual collapse. It s unconscionable that the company s students, who were working hard to better themselves, are now left with degrees of no value and crippling debt that s a direct result of misleading practices debt that threatens to ruin their financial futures and their ability to meet their basic needs (see our student stories for details). These students are the victims of fraud and deserve the opportunity to participate in restitution for Corinthian s actions based on opportunities available to them under existing laws. 7. What did Corinthian do that was so wrong compared to other for-profit colleges? Corinthian Colleges became a subject of state and federal investigation into its practices, with accusations of fraud, misrepresentations of job placement figures, and aggressive and misleading marketing to vulnerable, low-income students eligible for maximum federal student aid, which became the company s primary source of revenue. The company has been fined and/or sued by the U.S. Department of Education, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the California attorney general, as well as the attorneys general of Massachusetts and Wisconsin. 8. No one forced these students to take on debt. Isn t it ultimately each person s responsibility to pay back their student loans like everyone else? People who take on debt have the right to know how much it is going to cost them and what they are getting in return. Students tell us that Corinthian never told them what the real cost to them would be, and actually lied to them about how much they would end up owing. Corinthian also lied to them about what they were getting in return. Corinthian misrepresented the salaries 5

6 and jobs students would get, telling them virtually anything they wanted to hear in order to sign the students up. This is fraud. When debt is incurred through violations of state law, borrowers are entitled to relief in accordance with existing state and federal procedures. This relief includes opportunities for defense to repayment debt relief; closed-school discharges of debt; and restitution for criminal acts, including payment of interest on private Genesis loans. 9. What role does the U.S. Department of Education play in this? We call on the Department of Education to create a comprehensive means for students from any college to request a Request for Repayment when the college attended has violated the law. However, with the evidence that already exists against Corinthian and its schools, there is no justification not to provide all students who attended these schools with a class-wide defense to repayment, so they do not have to repay the debt they incurred under false pretenses. 10. How is this request different from the other legal actions and requests being made by former Corinthian students? A potential motion to intervene gives the entire class of former students of Corinthian and its subsidiaries a formal opportunity to participate as a party in the State of California s suit against Corinthian. It s the first time the interests of this entire class of students will have legal standing as parties to the suit, giving them a voice in any potential resolution of this legal action. 11. How is a Corinthian degree useless? Students tell us that they don t get interviews when they include their college on their resumes. Students have told us that employers tell them they don t recognize degrees from those schools. Students tell us that their credits don t transfer to other colleges as they had been told they would. 12. How many colleges are at issue, and how many students are affected? As of June 30, 2013, Corinthian reported that it operated some 22 schools in California. The total number of students who have enrolled in those schools since 2007 are in the tens of thousands. 13. Why don t the students just file a separate action? They may, individually or collectively. However, they also have a right to intervene in this action because the resolution of this case could have a very serious effect on the students. 14. What is the next step in this case? We will evaluate our legal options in light of today s bankruptcy filing, and the case will go forward no matter what, either in state court or bankruptcy court. 6

7 TIMELINE OF KEY EVENTS Corinthian Students Motion to Intervene Oct. 10, 2013 California Attorney General files civil lawsuit against Corinthian Colleges Inc. ("CCI") in San Francisco Superior Court. June 9, 2014 The federal Department of Education ("DOE") announces that it has placed CCI on an increased level of financial oversight due to its failure to turn over records to assist in an ongoing investigation of its business practices. July 3, 2014 The DOE announces that it and CCI have agreed to an operating plan requiring the company to either close or sell all its campuses over the next six months, and appointing an independent monitor to oversee the process. Aug. 8, 2014 Corinthian receives a grand jury subpoena from the U.S. Attorney s Office in the Central District of California in connection with an ongoing criminal investigation. Sept. 16, 2014 The federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") files a civil complaint against Corinthian in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois alleging that CCI engaged in an illegal predatory lending scheme. Sept. 4, 2014 The People and CCI agree to stay discovery until January 6, Jan. 15, 2015 The People and CCI agree to stay party discovery until March 31, Feb. 3, 2015 Corinthian sells most of its campuses to Zenith Education Group, a subsidiary of the education debt collection company ECMC. No California campuses are part of the deal. The CFPB approves the sale on condition that ECMC forgive 40% of students outstanding private debt and agree to other consumer protection measures. Mar. 27, 2015 The People and CCI agree to stay party discovery until June 30, April 1, 2015 Members of the Debt Collective and the "Corinthian 100" meet with the DOE in Washington and submit hundreds of applications to discharge Corinthian students loans. April 9, 2015 Nine state Attorneys General call on the DOE to discharge the federal loans of Corinthian students. April 14, 2015 The DOE releases an intent to fine notice finding that CCI misrepresented job placement rates and other information to students. It fines the company $30 million, suspends Heald College s Salinas and Stockton campuses, and bars all Heald campuses from receiving federal funds for new enrollments. April 16, 2015 The California Student Aid Commission permanently terminates Heald College s eligibility to receive money from the Cal Grants program. 7

8 April 17, 2015 California s Bureau for Private Post-Secondary Education issues an emergency decision prohibiting all Everest and Wyotech College campuses in the state from enrolling new students. April 26, 2015 CCI closes all California campuses, shuts down its website, and directs students to come to their campus for help transferring their credits to another for-profit college. May 4, 2015 Corinthian students file motion to intervene in State of California suit in order to ensure their interests are represented. 8