Over the last 5+ years I have witnessed the damage caused by predatory educators first hand.

A relative chose to leave a job as a general laborer with a landscaping/outdoor construction company. They had decided to take a course at a community college that they were promised would make them more employable and increase their earning potential.

The problem was their age. The course was preparing them for an apprenticeship that  they were far too old to get. But, of course, nobody at the school mentioned that.

So this relative left his job and gave up two years of earning potential (part of that in the course, part of that in the fruitless job search that followed). They drained their savings. The only part that benefitted was the predatory educator, the ridiculous “college” that was happy to sell this useless education. They got the tuition, and they were also very helpful with the government paperwork that would help the student access government funds.

It would be great if it had ended there, with a painful lesson learned. Sadly it did not – the school has to date sold three more programs to this student (each promising a more preposterous potential career than the last) and is currently encouraging him to take the most recent one again.

Think about it. This was a person that had a job and was earning money. They walked away from that job and stopped earning. They were now using up their savings, and also using government funds – both while they were in school studying and wasting time looking for jobs that would never be available to them afterwards.

The predatory educator benefits. Everybody else – the student, society, all lose out.