With Argosy University, a proprietary school with campuses across the nation, failing to disperse financial aid funds to students, members of the Florida delegation are calling for action from the U.S. Department of Education.
U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, D-Fla., rounded up Florida Democrat U.S. Reps. Kathy Castor and Darren Soto and Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis to send a letter to U.S. Education Sec. Betty DeVos, calling for “aggressive action against Argosy University, and ensure that students impacted by the for-profit university’s poor decisions are financially protected.”
After being purchased by Dream Center Education Holdings, which went into receivership last month, Argosy has not distributed financial aid to students.
“It appears that Argosy and their parent company Dream Centers have burned through funding designated for others, leaving our students holding the bag,” said Crist on Thursday. “We call on the Department of Education to fully investigate, hold the responsible parties accountable, and protect the financial interests of the students impacted.”
“We are appalled at the irresponsible revelations of Argosy University’s failure to deliver much needed federal financial aid to its students,” said. Soto. “Florida students and their families heavily rely on these funds to pursue their education. But instead, students were misled on their funds disbursements by an institution they trusted and now face irreparable consequences. I join my colleagues in demanding answers and action to end this nightmare for our students.”
“Students already have too many things to worry about and being taken advantage of by their school should not be one of them. My Tampa Bay colleagues and I are demanding answers for students and their families, so something like this never happens again,” Castor said.
“Protecting students from continuing to be exploited and victimized by this unethical private company is simply the right thing to do. I am proud to join my colleagues from the Tampa Bay Delegation in a bipartisan effort to provide immediate relief to these students, ensure hard earned tax dollars do not stay in the wrong hands and hold those who have acted in bad faith accountable for their fraudulent behavior,” said Bilirakis.
The Education Department took action this week, blocking Argosy from federal financial aid and accusing Dream Center of using financial aid funds to pay its employees and vendors instead of distributing it to students.
