Denver, CO August 9, 2010 – Westwood College is taking immediate action to set a new standard for the student enrollment process. Westwood is adding measures to verify employees’ compliance with its code of conduct, implementing independent third-party verification programs to make sure every potential student fully understands the total cost and likely career outcomes of their education, changing the way it pays admissions representatives and raising admissions requirements for new students.
“We are appalled by the unauthorized actions taken by a few Westwood employees that were made known to us in the Government Accountability Office’s investigation. It is not enough that we find out how this breakdown in our system happened. We have to make sure it does not happen again. We have implemented numerous initiatives over the past years to ensure transparency for our students and accountability for our employees, but we need to do more.” said Westwood College System President and CEO George Burnett. “Our mission at Westwood College is, and will continue to be, focused on our students’ success.”
Burnett emphasized that Westwood College is not waiting for regulatory action or possible legislation to make these significant changes. “Westwood College will lead by example. We are implementing new safeguards to our compliance processes, increasing our admissions requirements, and changing how we communicate with prospective students,” said Burnett.
Westwood’s new initiatives include:
- Internal Investigation: Westwood College has already launched an investigation into the admissions and financial aid processes at all campuses. The investigation utilizes outside legal counsel and will be completed within thirty days. The results of this investigation will assist the College in determining additional revisions to its processes and it will then re-train and certify its employees.
- Admissions Representatives Compensation: Westwood College will implement a compensation policy more restrictive than the current regulations permit by converting its admissions representatives’ compensation to fixed salary effective August 21, 2010, thereby eliminating enrollment targets as a component of compensation.
- Third-Party Verification: The College will implement independent third-party verification programs so that new students will confirm they have both received and understood the information provided through the admissions and financial aid processes, prior to beginning the first day of classes. The College will also expand “mystery shopping” of its financial aid and admissions processes as an additional safeguard to ensure its employees are being clear and accurate with students and the College is compliant with all state and federal regulations.
- Increased Admissions Requirements: Westwood College is raising its admissions requirements, including higher acceptance test scores, in order to better assess academic preparedness and serve a larger percentage of students that are likely to succeed and graduate.
- Refocused Admissions Presentation: Westwood College will immediately complete the roll out of a new admissions presentation that has been in development for more than a year. This new presentation is primarily designed to assist students in determining if Westwood College is the right fit for them. The presentation incorporates information beyond the currently required disclosures on the cost of tuition for the entire program, the likely job opportunities including average starting salaries, and the student’s requirement to repay all loans. Admissions representatives will also discuss the significant commitment required from students to complete their degrees.
“The immediate and decisive actions we are taking today will provide even greater transparency for our students and additional safeguards for compliance, all while improving the student experience,” Burnett said.
About Westwood College
Westwood College is an institution of higher learning with 17 campuses across the country and an online campus. Westwood offers a hands-on, career-focused education and grants master’s, bachelor’s and associate degrees, as well as diplomas in business, technology, design, justice and healthcare. Westwood College has more than 24,000 graduates and is accredited by two accreditation agencies, both of which are recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For more information, please visit www.westwood.edu.
More information is available at http://westwood.edu/hearings/