State to Shut Down Medical Institute
School falsely claimed that it was accredited, regulators say
In a highly unusual move, state regulators will close the Institute of Medical Education Thursday, after finding that the private vocational school in San Jose violated state education laws.
The California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education determined the for-profit school falsely claimed in advertisements that it was accredited, violated student enrollment agreements, and operated MRI technologist and ultrasound technician training programs without state approval, among other problems, according to state documents.
“Those things put students at enormous risk,” said Russ Heimerich, a spokesman for the California Department of Consumer Affairs, which oversees the bureau. “These students have spent a lot of money and a lot of time for programs that may not allow them to sit for licensure examinations.”
School administrators did not immediately respond to several requests for comment about the state’s decision.
The closure comes after The Bay Citizen published a story last month detailing complaints students had made to state regulators about the quality of the institute's educational programs and impending accreditation problems.
The Bay Citizen also reported that the state's Postsecondary Education Bureau had not fulfilled many of its core oversight responsibilities, including investigating complaints in a timely manner, monitoring the quality of educational programs and rooting out unlicensed schools.
That bureau will dispatch four people to shut down the school's San Jose and Oakland campuses on Thursday and to help displaced students with financial aid questions.
“We know that the school has issues, but we are all just hoping that we can just finish,” said Chris Dang, a student who was scheduled to graduate from the vocational nursing program in May.
The institute had offered certificate programs in vocational nursing, medical assisting and other health-related fields, and associate degrees in dental hygiene, for fees of up to $40,000.
On Monday, the bureau issued an emergency order barring the school from instructing and enrolling students and collecting tuition and fees, the first in the bureau's two-year history, Heimerich said.
School officials and their lawyers appealed the order on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Awet Kidane, chief deputy director of the state Department of Consumer Affairs, upheld the order.
“The institute is not an accredited institution,” Kidane wrote. “Nonetheless, the institute is advertising, or indicating in promotional material, that it is accredited.”
In his decision, Kidane also wrote that the institute “is no longer financially viable in that it has withdrawn from the Federal Financial Aid Program. The Institute relies on student federal financial aid in order to operate.”
Most of the institute’s financial aid staff have left or been fired, Kidane wrote.
In the coming weeks, the bureau intends to file a formal accusation against the school, Heimerich said. An administrative law judge will then hear the case, and make recommendations to the director of the state Department of Consumer Affairs, who will be tasked with deciding whether to revoke the school’s approval to operate.
The school’s owner, Sunil Vethody, may be required to pay restitution to displaced students and for the cost of the state’s investigation, Heimerich said.
The school is facing federal as well as state investigations.
The U.S. Department of Labor revealed last week that it is examining possible wage and overtime violations at the institute after receiving several complaints. Federal officials are interviewing institute employees and reviewing two years' worth of payroll records.
Separately, the U.S. Department of Education last week also disclosed it was investigating the school. And the California Department of Industrial Relations is looking into possible violations of state labor laws at the institute.
State officials are urging students to apply to the state’s Student Tuition Recovery Fund, which reimburses students at schools that close. It can take up to four months for the state to process such claims. Students seeking assistance with federal loans may also apply to the U.S. Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid division.
Students with questions about whether their credits will transfer to other schools may call the bureau at 888-370-7589.
Read the state's order on the California Bureau of Private Postseconday Education's website.
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Roland Salvato
Good job, Ms. Gollan, in writing this story and outing publicly a bogus medical institute!!!
Janelle Eaton
I worked at this place for a few months in 2010, worst experience. Owner is a drunk.. Brought liquor to the school conference room meetings, crazy! He would slap the marketing girl on her ass (she would get so wasted too, Miss Brown!) What a disgrace of a school and owners.