The Miami Herald requested 18 months of complaints for schools in South Florida. The Commission for Independent Education, an arm of the Florida Department of Education, provided 157 files, encompassing 4,600 pages and involving 81 campuses. Some complaints came from students who live outside Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties but were enrolled online.
The documents include complaints sent to the CIE from July 1, 2012 to Jan. 1, 2014. The complaints contained various allegations against schools, including accusations of fraud, theft, mistreatment and poor instruction. The documents also included schools' responses and the state's ruling.
The state, citing privacy laws, redacted students’ names from the complaints, although it was possible to track down some of the students through clues in the files.
Student stories
Vicki Plunkett, 38ITT Technical Institute Fort Lauderdale
"The one place that we’re supposed to be able to go ... backs up the school, so then what do I do?"
