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Lambda School agrees to end deceptive educational financing practices

dfpi.ca.gov

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Re: Lambda School agrees to end deceptive educational financing practices

#161

Post by DoreenMichele »

dang wrote: post #134
nrmitchi wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't realize the HN headline was different than the linked article, which is "Lambda School Reaches Settlement with DFPI, Agreeing to End Deceptive Educational Financing Practices". "Reaching a settlement" with an enforcement agency implies, at least to me, that you were acused of breaking a law.

HN limits titles to 80 chars, so the submitter had no choice but to use a different title. The edit looks to me like it was done in good faith, i.e. was just trying to neutrally fit the limit. If someone comes up with a better (more accurate and neutral) title, we can change it again.

Lambda School updates language to comply with new California law

Looks like that's 64 characters.

Just tossing out a suggestion. Maybe could stand to be edited to clarify where this language occurs or something.

Re: Lambda School agrees to end deceptive educational financing practices

#162

Post by eachro »

aerosmile wrote: post #77
sicromoft wrote: post #40

See also Lambda School’s Misleading Promises: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/02/lambda-schools-job-p...

I would be a lot more inclined to believe anything they said in this article if they didn't show such blatant bias for sensationalist reporting. > His previous work was mostly concerned with “growth hacking,” which is Silicon Valley jargon for finding underappreciated (or, less charitably, underhanded) ways of marketing something. So anyone who put the term "growth hacking" on their resume will now get publicly discr…

Note that the author of this piece was the founder of Coderpad, not some industry entrenched journalist. After watching his interview with Jason Calacanis(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hUT8VZNvm8), where they discuss the content of his piece, I'm more inclined to believe what Woo wrote.

Re: Lambda School agrees to end deceptive educational financing practices

#163

Post by mbesto »

jamiequint wrote: post #130
mbesto wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People are critical because "world changer builders" can often be found skirting rules that the rest of us have to play in. You're a self described growth hacker, which likely means you too have probably bent a few rules in your day. That's not a criticism of you - you can do your business how you like - but don't be surprised when a bunch of aspiring hackers/techies get annoyed when they see people who do bend the r…

> You're a self described growth hacker I don't describe myself as a "growth hacker" anywhere that I'm aware of. > don't be surprised when a bunch of aspiring hackers/techies get annoyed when they see people who do bend the rules to their gain (financial or otherwise) despite having access to the worlds most prominent investors (read -> resources) and seemingly don't do their homework. Not everything is so black and…

> I don't describe myself as a "growth hacker" anywhere that I'm aware of.

Sorry, growth consultant. Maybe it's fair to say the two are interchangeable, maybe not. I'd at least assume the same when someone uses the word growth instead of revenue/sales/marketing. Might help to not pontificate about what the term "growth hacking" is if you don't want to be associated with it: https://jamiequint.substack.com/p/growth-hacking-a-primer

> In any case, obviously a lawyer wrote the contract and gave an opinion that doesn't agree with your own expert legal opinion.

Where did I give my legal opinion? The fact is they had to settle to "undergo a review of its marketing materials to ensure that the information is accurate". This case wasn't about some doubt about legalese, but rather about how they presented themselves, hence the word "deception". It doesn't take a lawyer to know what that word means.

> More Zuckerbergs, more Travis Kalaniks. The more the better.

I think you'll understand why people are being critical of you now.

Re: Lambda School agrees to end deceptive educational financing practices

#164

Post by dragonwriter »

nrmitchi wrote: post #26
pseudalopex wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lambda School engaged in deceptive but apparently legal practices. A new law made them illegal. Lambda School continued to engage in the now illegal practices. The state began enforcement proceedings. The parties settled.

Part of my point, that I did not make clear, is that this law came into effect January 1st. A 3 month turn-around between something becoming illegal, and a "settlement" being reached, feels awfully fast to me, and implies that everyone involved was actually trying to follow this new law.

> Part of my point, that I did not make clear, is that this law came into effect January 1st. A 3 month turn-around between something becoming illegal, and a "settlement" being reached, feels awfully fast to me, and implies that everyone involved was actually trying to follow this new law.

Not really, I’d say it more implies:

(1) regulators were ready to start enforcement, at least of easy cases, on day 1 (unsurprising, as non-emergency laws in CA have a significant delay between passage and going into effect, both to prepare for enforcement and to give people subject to them sufficient notice to comply), and

(2) Lambda either didn’t want to comply or was lackadaisical (or they would have stopped before the law went into effect, since, again, there was notice) and

(3) the violation was open-and-shut leaving no room for denial, it was settle or lose for Lambda, with no upside for fighting.

Re: Lambda School agrees to end deceptive educational financing practices

#165

Post by treesrule »

fastball wrote: post #142
treesrule wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> While the referenced cases aren't good, not their mistakes alone Check notes: "notify students that the bankruptcy dischargeability provision language is not accurate" Just to be clear this isn't a "mistake" this is fraud.

IANAL but pretty sure that does not, in fact, qualify as fraud.

yeah sorry, I would bet you are right in the strict legal sense, I guess its a dumb cop out but I meant in the colloquial sense.

Re: Lambda School agrees to end deceptive educational financing practices

#166

Post by pseudalopex »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #161
dang wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HN limits titles to 80 chars, so the submitter had no choice but to use a different title. The edit looks to me like it was done in good faith, i.e. was just trying to neutrally fit the limit. If someone comes up with a better (more accurate and neutral) title, we can change it again.

Lambda School updates language to comply with new California law Looks like that's 64 characters. Just tossing out a suggestion. Maybe could stand to be edited to clarify where this language occurs or something.

That would make it sound like Lambda School did it proactively. It would obscure the claims were deceptive irrespective of California law. And it would obscure Lambda School acknowledged the claims were misleading.

Re: Lambda School agrees to end deceptive educational financing practices

#167

Post by effingwewt »

jamiequint wrote: post #130
mbesto wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People are critical because "world changer builders" can often be found skirting rules that the rest of us have to play in. You're a self described growth hacker, which likely means you too have probably bent a few rules in your day. That's not a criticism of you - you can do your business how you like - but don't be surprised when a bunch of aspiring hackers/techies get annoyed when they see people who do bend the r…

> You're a self described growth hacker I don't describe myself as a "growth hacker" anywhere that I'm aware of. > don't be surprised when a bunch of aspiring hackers/techies get annoyed when they see people who do bend the rules to their gain (financial or otherwise) despite having access to the worlds most prominent investors (read -> resources) and seemingly don't do their homework. Not everything is so black and…

Ok I wasn't sure before but now you must be trolling, I don't think anyone honestly believes that

>Hopefully! We need a lot more of that in the world. More Zuckerbergs, more Travis Kalaniks. The more the better.

Austen's responses and your inane defense of this is the susan wojcicki giving herself an award for censorship while calling it freedom of expression.

Businesses wishing words into different meanings is becoming rampant.

Re: Lambda School agrees to end deceptive educational financing practices

#168

Post by nrmitchi »

dang wrote: post #134
nrmitchi wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't realize the HN headline was different than the linked article, which is "Lambda School Reaches Settlement with DFPI, Agreeing to End Deceptive Educational Financing Practices". "Reaching a settlement" with an enforcement agency implies, at least to me, that you were acused of breaking a law.

HN limits titles to 80 chars, so the submitter had no choice but to use a different title. The edit looks to me like it was done in good faith, i.e. was just trying to neutrally fit the limit. If someone comes up with a better (more accurate and neutral) title, we can change it again.

I didn't mean to imply that the change was necessarily done in bad faith. I'm just used to them matching, and as such commented on the article title without considering that they didn't match.

Re: Lambda School agrees to end deceptive educational financing practices

#169

Post by DoreenMichele »

pseudalopex wrote: post #166
DoreenMichele wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lambda School updates language to comply with new California law Looks like that's 64 characters. Just tossing out a suggestion. Maybe could stand to be edited to clarify where this language occurs or something.

That would make it sound like Lambda School did it proactively. It would obscure the claims were deceptive irrespective of California law. And it would obscure Lambda School acknowledged the claims were misleading.

Maybe: Lambda School agrees to update deceptive language

Titles are hard, especially with a character limit.

Re: Lambda School agrees to end deceptive educational financing practices

#170

Post by dragonwriter »

fastball wrote: post #142
treesrule wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> While the referenced cases aren't good, not their mistakes alone Check notes: "notify students that the bankruptcy dischargeability provision language is not accurate" Just to be clear this isn't a "mistake" this is fraud.

IANAL but pretty sure that does not, in fact, qualify as fraud.

I think it probably is fraud, even legally, but only because “qualified education loans” subject to rules against discharge in bankruptcy are also eligible for tax deductions on interest, so while falsely claiming the status was intended as a dissuasion against recourse to bankruptcy for past customers (and not fraud, though clearly unethical, when that’s all the claim serves as), it also was a material misrepresentation which could encourage new customers to purchase services based on it, which is fraud.
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