University Of Phoenix Students Getting Nearly $50M In FTC Refunds

PHOENIX, AZ — The Federal Trade Commission is sending out nearly $50 million in refunds to more than 147,000 University of Phoenix students that were lured by deceptive advertisements.

The Phoenix-based, for-profit university chain used advertisements to tout its relationships with companies like AT&T, Yahoo!, Microsoft, Twitter and the American Red Cross, the FTC said. The university also misled students into believing that the university worked with those companies to tailor its curriculum to get students jobs with the companies, the FTC said.

The university, which has two locations in the Phoenix area and another in Tucson, must also pay $141 million to cancel students' unpaid balances with the school. That sum does not include other debts, such as federal and private student loans or military benefits, according to the FTC.

In a statement sent to Patch on Wednesday afternoon, the University of Phoenix said the following:

“The FTC made allegations concerning a campaign that ended in 2014 that were not tested through litigation, and do not constitute factual findings by either the FTC or any court. The University has admitted no wrongdoing and continues to believe it has acted appropriately," the statement reads.

"This settlement agreement has enabled us to continue our focus on our core mission of improving the lives of our students through career-relevant higher education, and to avoid any further distraction from serving students that could have resulted from protracted litigation.”

The FTC is mailing out more than 140,000 checks and issuing 677 PayPal payments to students that meet the following criteria:

1. Enrolled in masters, bachelors or associates degree programs with the university between Oct. 15, 2012 and Dec. 31, 2016.
2. Paid more than $5,000 with cash, grants, federal and private student loans, or military benefits.
3. Did not get debt cancellation as part of the FTC settlement, and:
4. Did not opt out of the university providing the student's contact info to the FTC.

More than $21 million in restitution money checks have been sent to 181,633 recipients in Arizona so far, according to the FTC's state-by-state database.

To contact the FTC about the status of the University of Phoenix settlement, you can send an email.