Attorney General files deceptive advertising suit against Spence - wave3.com-Louisville News, Weather & Sports

LOUSIVILLE, KY (WAVE) - We all want to get what we pay for but Kentucky's Attorney General says that's not the case at a popular local college. A.G. Jack Conway filed a consumer protection complaint against Spencerian College Wednesday saying it's promising its students an easier time finding a job than what's actually happening.

"The bottom line is that they went after people who just wanted to build better lives for their families in a very tough economy," Conway said. "In short, we don't think Spencerian was telling the truth to its prospective students. They provided students with information that it knew was false in the hopes of luring them into student loan arrangements and to join their for-profit institution.

Conway cites what he says are more than a dozen times over the past five years, where Spencerian promised students a job rate higher than what it actually reported to accreditors. In some cases, Conway says, the advertised rate was much higher.

"You're reporting to them (accreditors) actual rates of 40 and 60 percent when you're claiming 100 percent," he said.

Grover Potts is the attorney for Spencerian College. He says the school just received the lawsuit Wednesday, after the A.G.'s news conference.

He says he believes the discrepancy that the attorney general is comparing apples and oranges.

"Our review indicates that if there are any discrepancies, they may be due to the fact that some job placement rates are reported on a calendar year basis and others are reported on a fiscal year basis," Potts said.

He adds Spencerian originally turned over documents to the attorney general's office in February 2011, in response to a subpoena. He questions the timing of the suit.

"Jack Conway is determining whether or not to run for governor of the State of Kentucky," Potts said. "It makes no sense to me for him to have these documents for two years and do nothing about it and then all of a sudden file a lawsuit the same week that you announce that you're considering making a run for the governorship of Kentucky."

Below is the chart the attorney general says shows the basis for the suit:

Spencerian College Louisville Branch

 Spencerian Lexington Branch 

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