FTC sues DeVry, claims it counted a grad who was a rural mail carrier as working in 'technical management'

In a press conference on Wednesday, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it has filed a lawsuit against for-profit college DeVry University claiming it placed deceptive ads about the likelihood that graduates will find job placement in their fields of study.

The US Department of Education was also on the call to announce it would be taking action against the school.

The FTC cited the DeVry claim that 90% of graduates land a job in their field within six months of graduation as deceptive.

The agency also said there were numerous instances where DeVry considered students to be working in their field when they were not.

Their examples included a graduate who majored in business administration who was working as a waiter and a graduate who majored in technical management who was working as a rural mail carrier.

The lawsuit is another blow to the for-profit college industry, which has been mired in lawsuits and fines over the past few years.

Similar allegations were levied against now-shuttered Corinthian Colleges in 2015. The Department of Education fined Heald College San Francisco, a subsidiary of Corinthians, $29,665,000 for allegedly misrepresenting the kinds of jobs its graduates could get.

Shortly after, Corinthian, one of the larges for-profit college chains, announced it would be closing its doors for good.

Business Insider reached out to DeVry for comment and will update this post when we hear back.

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