This petition is for students currently attending the Art Institutes in conjunction with ex-students who were defrauded by acts of harmful solicitation and/or misleading word of mouth from AI administrative staff. These methods provided by E.D.M.C., Education Management Corporation, their controlling stock holders and key members of Art Institutes Inc. chain.

The Art Institutes and their counterparts purposely orchestrate skillful falsehoods by promising to provide students a quality education, high graduation rates including the essential experience needed to pursue their careers in many creative arts fields. Sometimes the students are relocated from their prospective states of residence, via key telephone solicitation, mass promoted television advertisements and/or internet media devices.

This organization consistently promotes and/or promises deceptive messages without reservation or restraint to students that they will obtain high paying jobs during and/or after graduation with higher than average negative results.

After the matriculation process and agreement to pay by arbitration contract in fine print, The Art Institutes' does not follow through as agreed and/or planned. The majority of the time the students suffer irreversible consequences due to inadequate standards of study, classrooms, living arrangements, over priced loans and unknowledgeable teaching staff at their schools. Other students do not know until they graduate from their prospective schools, that the majority of credits needed to transfer to higher universities, are not accepted therefore, they are noted as lower standard trade school accreditation.

 

One of the five vehicles for these destructive acts on students is, A.C.I.C.S., the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools. This Organization is considered a lower standard Post Secondary Education Accreditation that has allowed highly profitable private and minor regulated trade schools the ability to function as Diploma Mills in the U.S. These actions were given alongside unregulated acceptance of the ederal C.H.E.A. Organization, The Council for Higher Education Accreditation.

These unnecessary federal programs are granted by decree of the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. This unethical, disposable, and unnecessary federal funding could be used to provide real highly accredited colleges and/or universities, better programs to elevate education standards for everyone now and into the future.

All of these needless and careless acts cause a great loss of time and financial instability. This is due to the lack of Federal, State, and/or private funding that is prematurely used and needed to forward their education after this betrayal. This in turn lowers credit scores. If the student has difficulty meeting the obligation of their loans, this sometimes causes irreversible personal hardship.

This school and their counterparts provide a false portrayal of their promoted image, reputation and service, viciously preying on low to mid income students that need loans for their education. These senseless acts damage the future of the American job market and will continue to demote the standard of the U.S. education system, all for absurd corporate and stock traded profits, on the backbone of our youth.

This petition is for those students and their families: to voice their concerns, speak out and be heard; to bring awareness to the public, U.S. Department of Education and our U.S. Government, about the unethical and shameful organized practices of The Art Institutes’, E.D.M.C. and their corresponding counterparts.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned,