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Brandeis named in investigation
by Jacob Kamaras
Senior Editor
News | 1/29/08
Posted online at 12:15 AM EST on 1/29/08
Brandeis is one of 15 schools that received subpoenas this month from New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office for an investigation into a group of study abroad programs those schools approve, University administrators said.
Director of Study Abroad J. Scott Van Der Meid and Senior Vice President for Communications Lorna Miles confirmed Brandeis received the subpoena but couldn't comment further because the University's lawyers are evaluating the request.
Brandeis General Counsel Judith Sizer also declined to comment because the case is pending.
The investigation looks into the relationship between universities and the providers of study abroad programs, including the financial arrangements the two parties make as well as who actually makes the decision about the programs universities approve and what factors are taken into account for those decisions, John Milgrim, a spokesman for Cuomo's office, said Wednesday afternoon in a phone interview with the Justice.
Milgrim said that this case is an offshoot of an ongoing investigation started last February by Cuomo's office into conflicts of interest between schools and student lenders, in which loan companies might be paying money to colleges and universities in order for them to direct students to those companies' loans.
After The New York Times reported Aug. 13 that officials from private study abroad companies offer university officials money and trips in exchange for exclusively directing students to their programs, Cuomo decided to research various companies' business practices.
"We are trying to make sure that there aren't any undisclosed conflicts of interest that could hurt middle class students and their families who can't afford to pay extra for hidden costs for something that could be a tremendous opportunity for them," Milgrim said.
The investigation doesn't specifically target the study abroad operations of the schools that received subpoenas. He described the probe as a process for gathering information on study abroad providers that were previously subpoenaed and the nature of the relationships they had with universities.
Director of Study Abroad J. Scott Van Der Meid and Senior Vice President for Communications Lorna Miles confirmed Brandeis received the subpoena but couldn't comment further because the University's lawyers are evaluating the request.
Brandeis General Counsel Judith Sizer also declined to comment because the case is pending.
The investigation looks into the relationship between universities and the providers of study abroad programs, including the financial arrangements the two parties make as well as who actually makes the decision about the programs universities approve and what factors are taken into account for those decisions, John Milgrim, a spokesman for Cuomo's office, said Wednesday afternoon in a phone interview with the Justice.
Milgrim said that this case is an offshoot of an ongoing investigation started last February by Cuomo's office into conflicts of interest between schools and student lenders, in which loan companies might be paying money to colleges and universities in order for them to direct students to those companies' loans.
After The New York Times reported Aug. 13 that officials from private study abroad companies offer university officials money and trips in exchange for exclusively directing students to their programs, Cuomo decided to research various companies' business practices.
"We are trying to make sure that there aren't any undisclosed conflicts of interest that could hurt middle class students and their families who can't afford to pay extra for hidden costs for something that could be a tremendous opportunity for them," Milgrim said.
The investigation doesn't specifically target the study abroad operations of the schools that received subpoenas. He described the probe as a process for gathering information on study abroad providers that were previously subpoenaed and the nature of the relationships they had with universities.
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James Sanders
posted 1/29/08 @ 7:47 AM EST
I don't normally read the print edition but I could have sworn this article was in last week. It's definitely on online for last week: http://www.thejusticeonline. (Continued…)
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