Kaplan and Lincoln institutes will pay a combined $2.3 million to former students after lawsuit

The Massachusetts attorney general’s office announced Thursday afternoon that two for-profit colleges accused last year of deceiving students will pay out millions.

The Chronicle of Higher Education reported that Kaplan Career Institute and Lincoln Technical Institute will pay a combined $2.3 million to former students.

In a news release Thursday, Attorney General Maura Healey said the colleges intentionally advertised job placement rates far above what they knew they could deliver and used unfair recruiting tactics to attract prospective students.

“We allege these for-profit schools lured hopeful students into enrolling in their vocational programs by promising certain careers but only left them with substantial debt,” Healey said in the release.

Kaplan maintains that the settlement was not an admission of wrongdoing.

“Sadly, in the world of business today, it is often less damaging to settle such a matter even when there is no wrongdoing,” Janice Block, Kaplan’s chief legal and administrative officer, said in a statement Thursday.

Kaplan, which serves about 46,000 online and campus-based students, has 15 locations in Missouri, Iowa, Indiana, Nebraska, Maryland, Maine and Wisconsin.

This story was originally published July 30, 2015 at 6:35 PM with the headline "Kaplan and Lincoln institutes will pay a combined $2.3 million to former students after lawsuit."