Judge rules Minnesota for-profit schools committed fraud

Globe University
Lori Swanson said students paid up to $78,000 in tuition.
Tim Post | MPR News 2012

A judge has ruled that two for-profit schools run by a Woodbury-based company misled students into believing school programs prepared them to be police or probation officers.

Hennepin County District Judge James Moore said the Minnesota School of Business and Globe University violated state consumer fraud and deceptive trade practices laws. Attorney General Lori Swanson sued the schools in 2014.

"The school engaged in consumer fraud because it signed up students who told the school they wanted to become police officers, even though the degree wasn't recognized by the state of Minnesota to train or educate police officers," Swanson said.

There were similar problems with a program for aspiring probation officers.

The schools were ordered to pay the state for its legal and related costs. Swanson said students paid up to $78,000 in tuition. She plans to seek restitution for more than 1,000 of them.

A representative for the schools did not immediately return calls for comment.

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