DeVry Education Responds To FTC Complaint, Notes Its Use Of Statistics In Advertisements Is 'Appropriate'

Shares of DeVry Education Group Inc (NYSE: DV) were halted Wednesday afternoon after the Federal Trade Commission confirmed it has filed a suit against the company's operators for alleged misleading advertisement.

According to the FTC, DeVry's advertisements "deceived consumers about the likelihood that students would find jobs in their fields of study, and would earn more than those graduating with bachelor's degrees from other colleges or universities."

Related Link: DeVry Crashes, Halted Off FTC Action

DeVry Education Group issued a public response to the FTC's actions.

The company stated that the FTC's allegations are "without a valid legal basis." In addition, the FTC's complaints "contains anecdotal examples that exaggerate the allegations but do not prove them."

DeVry Education Group further argued that there is no national standard for calculating employment statistics. Nevertheless, the statistics that are used in its commercials are not only "appropriate" but are also "more rigorous and further substantiated" versus its peers.

"DeVry University is an honorable institution with more than 80-years of providing high quality, career-oriented education," said Daniel Hamburger, DeVry Group's president and CEO. "We're proud of our 250,000 alumni, many of whom are employed by America's most respected employers, including federal, state and local governments. DeVry Group is confident in our defense and looks forward to demonstrating the accuracy and credibility of our students' career success."