DeVry University has agreed to stop advertising a claim aboutthe success of its students that had been challenged by thefederal government.
The Education Department announced a settlement with DeVrytoday after saying the for-profit college chain couldn'tsupport one of its marquee claims.
DeVry had advertised that 90 percent of its graduates since1975 found employment in their field of study within six monthsof graduation. Last year, the department asked DeVry to provideevidence of the claim and found that it couldn't.
The settlement requires DeVry to provide a $68 million reservethat the department can use as a form of insurance for anyliabilities caused by DeVry.
It cited theDeVry claim that 90% of graduates land a job in theirfield within six months of graduation as deceptive.
The agency alsosaid there were numerous instances where DeVry consideredstudents to be working in their field when they werenot. Their examples included a graduate who majored inbusiness administration who was working as a waiter and agraduate who majored in technical management who was working asa rural mail carrier.
The lawsuit wasanother blow to the for-profit college industry, which hasbeen mired in legal problems and fines over thepast few years.
Similar allegationswere levied against now-shuttered Corinthian Colleges in2015. The Department of Education finedHeald College San Francisco, a subsidiary ofCorinthians, $29,665,000 formisrepresenting the kinds of jobs its graduates couldget.
DeVry said in a statement that it is pleased to resolve thecase with the Department of education.
Editor's note: A previous version of this story statedDeVry would pay $68 million. The current version has beenupdated to reflect the amount is a letter of credit held inreserve.
