Heald College under investigation for violating several state laws

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Hundreds of family members and friends attended a graduation ceremony for Heald College students on Tuesday evening. The for-profit school is currently under investigation for violating several state laws. Students had very different reactions about how the recent allegations may impact their job prospects.

Graduation is one of the major milestones in many of our lives and that's no exception at Heald College. "I went to Heald to open doors," said Derrick Youngclaus. Youngclaus is focused on his next promotion after graduating but he's also paying attention to how Attorney General Kamala Harris is now filing charges against his alma mater. He added, "I keep hearing little titbits about what's going on with that."

Corinthian Colleges which owns Heald's Fresno location recently put up all campuses for sale. But the Attorney General's office claims administrators intentionally hid the potential transaction from students while hyping up the school's reputation and job placement rates.

Campus president Carolyn Pierce would not directly address the allegations. "Those are allegations and the court date is next spring. We hope to prove our innocence at that time," she said.

Most students told Action news, they earned their degrees through hard work and no one can take that away. "I haven't paid much attention to it. I was focused on graduating," said Samantha Phomdouangdy.

"It's all just talk. I am still going back to get my AA so I can move on and get better things. I don't know if it's true or not," said Rachel Perez.

Staff members say the next semester at Heald is scheduled to start on July 21st -- despite the recent issues.