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Forced Vibration Clauses Analysis

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A majority of the for-profit schools using federal aid in our sample (93 of 158 institutions) include forced arbitration clauses in their contracts, but those schools enroll a much larger proportion of students from the sample of federally funded for-profit schools (98 percent).4 Of the forty-nine for-profit schools not using federal aid, only one school used a forced arbitration clause. Below are three examples of how forced arbitration clauses appear in the enrollment contracts that students are asked to sign. For Kaplan University, the clause is a single sentence in the signature block, on the second page within the enrollment contract. South University includes multiple paragraphs, including a fully capitalized paragraph within the twelve-page …show more content…

By joining forces, consumers are able to gain the legal representation and evidence they need to make their case. Go-it-alone clauses within enrollment contracts prevent students and former students from being able to seek resolution of their complaints by teaming up with others. Since students or former students who must pursue their complaints individually are much less likely to do so, prohibiting group action enables worse behavior by …show more content…

Specifically, Illinois includes a provision in its communications with vocational schools that discourages the use of these clauses, potentially suppressing the usage rate of go-it-alone clauses among for-profit schools receiving federal aid. Still, the percentage of students enrolled within these schools (63 percent) far exceeds the percentage of institutions using such clauses (22 percent) in our sample.

Go-it-alone clauses are usually included within an arbitration clause. As shown below, Midwest Technical Institute includes a section within its enrollment contract specifying that any complainant cannot be part of a class action, or bring claims consolidated with other individuals. Cortiva Institute simply states that any issue will be resolved through individual, binding arbitration, a clarification that, as discussed above, may be

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