Education Corporation of America

Mississippi controversies

In February 2011, 14 former students of ECA's Virginia College in Jackson, Mississippi sued the school on the grounds that it had not yet received its practical nursing program accreditation from the Mississippi Community College Board (formerly State Board for Community and Junior Colleges in Mississippi). The school had been granted initial accreditation but had not yet been granted full accreditation status. The students alleged that they learned the day after graduation that, because the school not been given SBCJC program accreditation, they could not take the nursing exam required to become licensed. Lawyers for the students alleged that the school engaged in fraud by not adequately informing them that the school had not yet received the full program accreditation. School lawyers denied any intent to mislead. Potentially of significance to the case is a document that students in the program were asked to sign. The document includes a notice that Virginia College's program accreditation process was not complete and that this could jeopardize students' ability to take the licensure exam. School lawyers also said that all students upon enrollment are required to sign a waiver that defers lawsuits to third-party arbitration. A county judge upheld that provision in an October 2011 ruling, meaning that a jury would not hear the case. On April 20, 2012, members of the Mississippi Community College Board voted unanimously to move Virginia College's practical nursing program from initial accreditation to full accreditation status.

Another lawsuit was filed in October 2011, this time by students of the surgical technology program. The students alleged similar deception about the school's program accreditation status, as well as fraudulent fees for dormitory and cafeteria expenses. The school had no dormitories or cafeteria. The school denied the allegations and noted that at the time of the allegations, some graduates of the program were employed as surgical technicians, noting that graduating from a school with the program accreditation in question is not required by the state of Mississippi to gain employment in that field.