Payments Never Posted, Here are Some Options
What can we do about a school who has deceived us??
Unfortunately there is no immediate fix for the situation Maestro College has created however there are paths for recourse and Maestro claims to have set up an "Emergency Fund" for students affected by their mishandling of the situation...If you are part of that group I highly suggest you apply for it...keep in mind the payment probably won't compare to the loans you expected to receive but its better than nothing and can help keep you afloat till you can create a backup plan...goto student services and send a request for more information or look for instructions in your emails..I did not apply for loans so I dont know if there was a blanket email or instructions on how to do this but i saw it was mentioned in a screenshot someone had posted
The legal option
While researching the implications and legal standards for student loans in regards to Maestro i found 2 things...
Eastern Gateway had a similar situation that resulted in criminal indictments in the last week...so file complaints to Dept. of Ed OIG hotline as that is what triggered the investigation into Eastern Gateways fraud and led to DOZENS OF FELONY CHARGES
I also found Kneupper & Covey Lawfirm is investigating Maestro College and looking for student reports to build a class action lawsuit. They have a form at the bottom of the page you can fill out and a phone number you can call for more information...while I did notice they ask if you live in specific states I believe when they finally see the whole picture and how many students were affected across the entire country outside of the states they service they maybe able to direct you to lawyers in your area or possibly bring on additional lawfirms to ensure everyone affected has representation.
I have also started a petition and reached out to both my Congressmen and Senator about my concerns over Maestro College, Maestro University, and Masterschool...we currently have 229 signatures and I believe the more signatures we get the more inclined they will be to see the issues at play here as it speaks to the scope of their misrepresentations and possible fraud allegations...I also fear that as the DOE is being gutted, oversight agencies rely on self reporting, and AI has minimal oversight and guardrails, this situation is likely the first of many more to come...we have the opportunity to alert those in power and speak to our experiences before others carry out similar playbooks...cutting cost be replacing qualified instructors with AI, minimizing curriculum and academic rigor, while drawing maximum Title IV funding...in my opinion Maestro likely isn't the only entity who planned an AI school they were just the first to do, and while some schools maybe learning from their mistakes to present a similar structure to Maestro that meets accreditation standards there are likely other schools with similar motives and intentions learning from Maestro how to deploy a similar playbook and go undetected for longer...and those are the ones Im trying to get ahead of.