National President Stiefel's Legal Declaration Paints Grim Picture for School Mired in Accreditation Struggles
In their lawsuit against the CCE to try and stop the Council from enforcing the sanction of PROBATION, National University of Health Sciences (NUHS) makes a desperate attempt to get the court to believe that the sanction will lead to major problems for the institution. Chief among them are the concerns regarding money. According to the suit, National claims:
"Loss of accreditation means that DCP students are ineligible to receive student aid funds under Title IV programs. The vast majority of DCP students funds their education entirely with Title IV program funds and would not be able to enroll in a DCP without access to Title IV program funds."
Bearing in mind that National has not lost accreditation but has been put on probation, National concludes for the court that even the threatened loss of accreditation is a "death blow" to a chiropractic program and states:
"Therefore a DCP’s loss of accreditation or threatened loss of accreditation, e.g., Probation, is a death blow to a DCP."
In his signed Declaration submitted to the court along with the filing of the lawsuit, National's President Joseph Stiefel DC makes a desperate plea in order to save the school.
The following are seven areas of concern taken from Stiefel's Declaration.
DECLARATION OF JOSEPH STIEFEL IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFF’S EMERGENCY EX PARTE MOTION FOR TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER
NUHS strongly believes that CCE failed to follow its own policies, procedures, and manuals, denied NUHS its common law due process rights, and applied its policies in a discriminatory, arbitrary and unreasonable manner. As a result of CCE’s wrongful imposition of Probation and soon to be published Public Disclosure Notice of the same, NUHS will suffer immediate, substantial, and irreparable harm and prejudice.
First, public disclosure and enforcement of the sanction of Probation will cause NUHS to lose current and prospective students because they may believe that NUHS will soon be losing its accreditation and therefore access to Title IV program funds. Students rely on Title IV program funds to pay for their education. A DCP’s access to Title IV funds, by virtue of accreditation by a Secretary-recognized accrediting agency, is instrumental to recruiting and retaining students for the duration of the student’s studies. Despite NUHS’s pursuit of its legal rights in this Court and assertions that it will maintain its accreditation, current and prospective students may misinterpret the sanction of Probation as an imminent loss of accreditation and therefore transfer from or decline to enroll in NUHS’s DCP.
Second, public disclosure and enforcement of the sanction of Probation will cause NUHS to lose current students because they may encounter more difficulty in obtaining employment. Probation will create a false impression among the public that NUHS does not provide a quality education or prepare DCP graduates for licensure and practice. Individual graduates will therefore be placed at a disadvantage to obtain employment as a chiropractor. Current students will therefore decide that the financial hardship of transferring to another DCP may be worth the risk of having a more difficult time entering the practice of chiropractic medicine.
Third, public disclosure and enforcement of the sanction of Probation will cause NUHS to lose prospective students because they will receive a distorted message that NUHS is not in compliance with Policy 56 regarding NBCE exam passage rates. Fewer prospective students will seek information or enrollment in NUHS because the distorted data CCE requires NUHS to report will lead the prospective student to believe that NUHS does not adequately prepare its graduates to obtain licensure because its weighted NBCE exam passage rates are below 80%.
Palmer College of Chiropractic is one of NUHS’s main competitors. Palmer College’s recruitment efforts and marketing to the public are focused on NBCE exam passage rates and it will use CCE’s public disclosure and enforcement of the sanction of Probation as a means to recruit both NUHS’s current students as well as prospective students.
Fourth, public disclosure and enforcement of the sanction of Probation will cause NUHS to lose prospective students because, rather than attracting students, NUHS’s rigorous admission standards will deter enrollment when juxtaposed with the distorted NBCE exam passage rates and the sanction of Probation.
Fifth, public disclosure and enforcement of the sanction of Probation will cause NUHS to lose significant amounts of revenue and, therefore, be less likely to continue to develop and utilize the academic and programmatic improvements CCE recognized as a positive. NUHS must reasonably expect to lose millions of dollars in tuition revenue as a result of CCE’s wrongful probation tarnishing NUHS’s standing and
reputation and incentivizing students to attend other DCPs. My administration calculates that for each group of five prospective or current students who choose not to attend NUHS, the University will lose approximately $500,000 in revenue. NUHS reasonably forecasts—in order to manage budgets—that the losses will be much larger than $500,000. While the losses of revenue as a result of current and prospective students’ decisions not to enroll or to transfer to another DCP are not yet realized, NUHS knows and forecasts that they will be sizable and larger than that figure.
Sixth, public disclosure and enforcement of the sanction of Probation will cause NUHS to lose current faculty because CCE’s Probation determination will convey to the public that NUHS is not a quality DCP. Faculty will not want to continue teaching at a school with a negative reputation and will therefore look for opportunities at other DCPs or be the target of other DCPs’ faculty recruiting efforts.
Seventh, public disclosure and enforcement of the sanction of Probation will cause NUHS’s insurance premiums to increase and reduce its insurability.
CLICK BELOW for LAWSUIT & RELATED DOCUMENTS
Higher Learning Commission Public Disclosure
Higher Learning Commission Action Letter
Denial of Temporary Restraining Order & Seal
National v. CCE Legal Complaint
Request for Temporary Restraining Order
Declaration of Stiefel and all Exhibits
Motion for Temporary Restraining Order and Memorandum in Support
