User:Caernarvon/Sandbox

Criticism
Quality of education:
 * There have been concerns that UPX does not properly balance value to students and profits to shareholders, though UPX claims that standardized testing in reading, writing, and mathematical skills for UPX students show that they improve at a better rate on average than for students at most other schools.
 * By the United States Department of Education graduation standards the UPX rate is only 16%. Compared to the national average of 55% it is among the nation's lowest. UPX and some education experts assert that the federal standard is antiquated because it only measures first time students with no previous college credit and uses measurements that skew against economically disadvantaged and minority students. The university response claims that the federal standard only applies to 7% of the total UPX student community and publishes its own nonstandard graduation rate of 59% to account for its overwhelming population of non-traditional students.

Legal issues:
 * The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission settled a second sexual harassment claim against UPX $225,000 in August 2007.
 * In September 2004, UPX paid a settlement of $9.8 million to the United States Department of Education for alleged violations of the Higher Education Act provisions which prohibit distributing financial incentives to admission representatives.


 * A 2003 federal whistle-blower/false claims lawsuit accuses UPX of fraud in obtaining hundreds of millions of dollars in financial aid. It is set for trial in September 2009.  The school counters that the lawsuit is a legal manipulation by two former UPX employees over a matter previously resolved with the U.S. Department of Education.
 * The university has had various labor and government regulatory related issues. It paid $3.5 million to settle alleged violation of overtime compensation provision with the Department of Labor. It is presently being sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for alleged religious discrimination favoring Mormon enrollment counselors. It settled allegations by the United States Department of Education for $6 million in March 2000 because government auditors noted that the teaching schedule fell short of the minimum time required to qualify for financial aid.  The United States Department of Education also ordered the university to pay $650,000 for failing to promptly refund loans and grants for students who withdrew.