Dive Brief:
- Corinthian Colleges announced Friday in a regulatory filing that it is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice for alleged violations of the False Claims Act.
- The for-profit college chain faces allegations of manipulating student attendance and grade records, inflating the job placement rates of its graduates, and lying about its funding sources, according to Corinthian’s filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
- Corinthian also reported that it worked out an agreement with its lenders that the U.S. Department of Education had required before releasing more federal funding to the company.
Dive Insight:
Corinthian has such a long list of investigations and lawsuits pending — most recently from the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — that this latest news barely made a blip in terms of coverage. The company said it had received a civil investigative demand from the Justice Department, requiring it to respond to questions with written answers, in late August.