Eater's Index Of The Cordon Bleu Snafu

New York Times pages devoted to unveiling the messiness and potentially fraudulent claims made by many for-profit trade schools, including the Le Cordon Bleu college of Culinary Arts here in Portland: 3

Le Cordon Bleu tuition: $41,000

Amount of time spent at school: 15 to 21 months

Promises of post-graduate stability from recruiter: 1

Debt carried by student halfway through program: $10,000

Amount of post-graduate income implied by recruiter, per hour: $18.36

Typical post-graduate income, per hour: $10

Oregon's minimum wage, per hour: $8.40

Number of hours of work it would take to pay off typical student debt: 1000

Equivalent number of eight-hour workdays: 125

Alternate contacts given the New York Times by Le Cordon Bleu: 4

Contact with wrong number: 1

Contact who had graduated fifteen years ago: 1

Finance charge assessed by Le Cordon Bleu to student TJ Williams: $7,327

Refinancing help given by Le Cordon Bleu: 0

People whose lives are getting screwed: exact figures unknown.
·In Hard Times, Lured Into Trade Schools and Debt [New York Times]