Closed For-Profit University Places Scholarship Debts With Agency, Rankling Students

A collection agency may be on the receiving end of a barrage of disputes after a for-profit college that went out of business last month is looking to recover on scholarships it had offered to students.

Harrison College in Indianapolis closed its doors in September, leaving 1,300 students without a place to go to school. A published report from a TV station interviewed two former students who received collection letters from an agency working on behalf of the college. One of the students — who was three months away from obtaining a nursing degree — said the collection letters were being send for her to repay a scholarship she received from the school.

The other student said when she was contacted by the collection agency, she said she should be sending a collection notice to the school, not the other way around. The agency hung up on her, she said.

To conclude its report, the station spoke with a representative of the Better Business Bureau, who encouraged students to dispute the debt with the agency and with the credit bureaus.

“The first thing they should do is dispute it with the people who are trying to collect the money and also with the college,” said Tim Maniscalo. “You are not rendering the services that I got billed for here. I don’t believe I owe you this money for. Definitely go back and challenge it.”

The report did not include any comment from the collection agency, nor did it indicate it reached out to the agency to discuss the situation.