(For staff and students of CEHE)
We won our lawsuit against the Department of Education in Federal Court in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, April 29.
The lawsuit we fought was brought under the “False Claims Act” (FCA). Over the last two decades, the FCA has been used against dozens (maybe hundreds) of private career colleges.
An FCA lawsuit threatens the utter destruction of a college because it demands that the college pay back every penny of student financial aid borrowed by its students, multiplied by three (plus fines and penalties). It’s a massive threat.
Every college caught in the FCA crosshairs felt compelled to settle. Why? Because the potential penalty is terrifying, and trials are unpredictable. Outcomes can hinge on biased judges and emotionally swayed juries. In today’s culture, lawfare – the misuse of legal systems to punish or destroy – has become all too common.
In the case of the FCA, it’s not exaggeration to say it’s “nuclear” lawfare. The FCA is initiated by private individuals alleging breaches of the FCA.
Hundreds of predatory lawyers throughout the United States have misused the FCA to extort millions of dollars from the University of Phoenix, ITT Technical schools, and many other institutions.
The lawfare against us was initiated by lawyer Brandon Mark, who filed a lawsuit on behalf of two former Stevens-Henager College Provo Admissions Consultants, Katie Brooks and Nanette Wride. Mark is a predator who deliberately targeted not only Stevens-Henager Colleges, but all the colleges under Center of Excellence for Higher Education (CEHE). His fingerprints have been on all attacks against us from 2010 onward. His campaign was built on anonymous, unverified complaints, devoid of fact, simply designed to smear and defame.
Brandon Mark, Michale McComis, Libby DeBlasio Webster (an activist Assistant AG in Colorado), and anonymous complainers worked together to destroy our decent, valuable colleges. Thousands lost their jobs, and almost 10,000 students were shut out of their education. Such evil is hard to comprehend.
We refused to accept unearned guilt – we stood firm, and we spoke up. We refused to settle the lawsuit and fought back. I will spare you the details, except to give you a couple of data points.
On the first day of the trial, key witness Katie Brooks gave testimony that the judge openly stated was perjurious. She may face criminal charges. By the end of the seventh day, the jury had heard enough. In just 90 minutes – over lunch – the jury unanimously rejected claims against us.
It wasn’t just a win. It was a total defeat for the Department of Education – and a powerful rebuke of the lawfare attacks we’ve faced for over a decade.
To our students and staff: I know how deeply this ordeal has affected you. I hope this verdict offers some sense of vindication. CEHE was not shut down because of wrongdoing. It was deliberately destroyed by a coalition of activists – Brandon Mark, Michale McComis, Libby DeBlasio Webster, and the Department of Education.
This isn’t the end. We are still fighting back. As noted in this press release, we are now pursuing a $500 million lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education.
I know that you, the students and staff, have been harmed by these dreadful people, and I wanted to inform you of this win. I hope you can take some satisfaction from this report.
Carl Barney
May 7, 2025
Congratulations, Carl, on this victory in a battle that should never have had to have been fought.
“This is not the beginning of the end but perhaps it is the end of the beginning”
Keep up the fight.