A new lawsuit claims Northwestern Business College has illegally withheld college transcripts from students who owe unpaid debts to the college, even though such practices have been made illegal in Illinois.
Jasmine Chatman, on behalf of herself and others, filed a new class action lawsuit against Northwestern Business College (NBC) in Cook County Circuit Court on February 16. The complaint alleges Northwestern Business College in suburban Oak Park illegally withheld an unspecified amount of transcripts from students supposedly due to unpaid college debt.
Northwestern Business College is not affiliated I'm any way with Northwestern University.
The practice of withholding transcripts for any unpaid college debt, even library fines is a longstanding university tradition. It can mean any college debt, even something as seemingly trivial as a book fine or a parking ticket, can prevent students from having access to their transcripts.
According to court documents, Chatman owed NBC for tuition that the college contends was unpaid at the time of her request in June 2022. Her transcripts were supposedly denied on multiple occasions. At that time, Illinois had recently passed laws prohibiting such practices.
Illinois Senate Bill 3032, enacted late March 2022, made it illegal for any college or university in Illinois to withhold transcripts from students for any unpaid college debt. President Biden has proposed similar federal legislation.
Chatman is also asserting that NBC is in violation of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Protection Act having engaged in unfair business practices by allegedly misrepresenting their policy on releasing transcripts when there is unpaid college debt. She claims that as a result, she was unable to start school at Capella University for the term she applied for as she could not provide required transfer transcripts.
In addition, she was required to pay multiple application fees to Capella each time she reapplied and was allegedly denied having her transcripts released from NBC to Capella.
Chatman is demanding a trial by jury and is seeking actual and punitive damages as well as court costs and legal fees.
Plaintiff is represented by attorney Michael W. Drew, Neighborhood Legal, of Chicago.