U.S. Sues Stevens-Henager College Over Recruiting Practices

The federal government is suing Stevens-Henager College and its owner, the Center for Excellence in Higher Education, over allegations that it illegally compensated recruiters of students, the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Thursday.

The college operates campuses in Idaho and Utah. Stevens-Henager is described in the Justice Department’s news release as a chain of for-profit colleges, but the college’s website describes it as a nonprofit institution, and the Idaho Statesman reported last year that the college had changed its tax status to nonprofit.

The government’s action follows claims by two former Stevens-Henager employees, who accused the college in a whistle-blower lawsuit of violating the federal False Claims Act. The government alleges that Stevens-Henager falsely certified compliance with the federal ban on incentive compensation for college recruiters.

Eric S. Juhlin, Stevens-Henager’s chief executive, told the Statesman that his institution “strenuously” denied the allegations.