Diving overview:
- Four students from the California coding bootcamp Bloom Institute of Technology, or BloomTech, sued the school this week, alleging it misrepresented its job placement rates.
- Other students they have sued BloomTech before over similar allegations. However, this is the first time students are seeking a class-action lawsuit against the institute, which was formerly known as Lambda School.
- Students in the current lawsuit also accuse BloomTech of engaging in unlicensed lending, noting that operated without the consent of California until 2020.
Diving statistics:
At first glance, BloomTech presents an attractive offer. She says she offers fast-track training in a popular field with no upfront payment because some of her students can use what are known as Income Sharing Arrangements, or ISAs, to pay for their education. This arrangement allows students to pay their cost of attendance as a percentage of their income after graduation.
But BloomTech ran afoul of state regulators, who at one point told the school to do just that stop operations without their consent. The school has since received the green light from the state, but California rules do not allow it to offer ISAs to California residents.
The students in the new lawsuit, who are backed by advocacy group the National Student Legal Defense Network, are seeking financial relief, such as BloomTech canceling their ISAs or refunds.
BloomTech did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
