For eight years, this blog has been investigating greed and corruption in higher education at all levels, from predatory for-profit colleges and student loan servicers to elite university endowments. We have also highlighted the good people in higher education: those who promote transparency, accountability, value, justice, and empathy.
Over those years, we have gained a good number of friends and allies and received a small amount of negative feedback. When we did face staunch criticism, or in a few cases, threats, we had to consider the sources, who were always bad actors or those who worked for them. The bad actor, Christopher (Chip) Paucek, and his attorneys, have filed a federal litigation, suing this blog and its author for giving you, our valued readers, our opinion. Specifically, Paucek has taken exception to our characterization of him as a scam artist.
We stand by our opinion of Chip based on what we learned in more than five years of investigations of 2U, the company Paucek led for over 10 years. And we hope that more people will do their own investigations.
We took our first look at 2U in 2019. In time, we were not the only ones paying attention. Workers in social media presented an inside view of the inner workings of 2U, describing what they viewed as enrollment practices that were highly questionable. Student consumers stepped forward, saying they had been deceived by 2U. Shareholders came forward, presenting Chip’s own words, saying he had misled them. The Wall Street Journal published a number of investigative pieces about 2U and the Chronicle of Higher Education also published two articles. While none of these outlets mentioned Chip, he was the CEO at the time, and in our view was responsible.
By March 2022, Chip Paucek was still CEO of 2U, and was formally setting up the Pro Athlete Community, also known as PAC. There was nothing secret about this venture by this time. But it did seem to us questionable that a CEO of a large corporation would be formally setting up another for-profit organization while the one he was running was failing.
In 2024, Chip admitted in an interview that he should have left 2U in 2019, but he didn’t. Chip also admitted that without his staying at 2U during that five year period, he wouldn’t have been able to start PAC. Last June, while still being paid as a consultant to 2U, a company nearly bankrupt, he led a group of retired players to ring the bell at NASDAQ. No one in the mainstream media picked up on the hypocrisy of all that exuberance on Wall Street. But we did.
Chip’s lawsuit against us was a surprise on several levels. First, our statements were just our opinion–it’s not provable or disprovable. Second, it seems nonsensical to bother with a blog seen by only 25,000 people a month. Third, and most importantly, Chip Paucek’s track record in business could reasonably lead someone to believe he is, indeed, someone who says untrue things to his own benefit.
Our feeling is that this lawsuit is more than a man taking exception to being called out for his track record; it’s, in our view, an attempt to keep us from warning his next potential victims–the athletes, employees, and investors who will be the next to learn about his methods.
Many states (including New Jersey, where Chip filed suit) have a law to deal with situations in which someone uses the courts to squelch investigative journalism. Accordingly, we are pursuing an Anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuits against public participation) counter suit, asking for his case to be dismissed, and for him to pay our legal fees and court costs.
On November 25th, David Halperin, an ally of ours for many years, let the public know that 2U is likely to be under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission and the California Attorney General. The company Chip left in 2023, but is still being paid by, as a special advisor. We are not surprised.
If Chip would grant us an interview, we’d like to know more.
Related links:
A Hidden Risk of Online Higher Education (Student Borrower Protection Center)
David Bernard v Climb Credit, University Accounting Services, Loan Science & 2U
2U Investors Reach $37 Million Settlement With Online Educator (Bloomberg Law)Letter from CFPB to Richard Cordray about 2U
The Long, Steep Fall of an Online Education Giant (Wall Street Journal)
That Fancy University Course? It Might Actually Come From an Education Company.
USC Pushed a $115,000 Online Degree. Graduates Got Low Salaries, Huge Debts. (Wall Street Journal)
