Advocates Refer Prehired, Now Doing Business as FastTrack, to State AGs for Prosecution; New Investigation Exposes Ongoing Illegal Activity by Banned Tech Bootcamp
April 1, 2025 | WASHINGTON, D.C. — Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC) released the results of a months-long investigation into the tech company Prehired—now doing business as FastTrack—exposing how the firm had resumed pushing worthless credentials on students, paid for via its own predatory private student lending operation. SBPC referred Prehired and its disgraced founder Joshua Jordan to state attorneys general and regulators for prosecution. In 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and a bipartisan coalition of 11 state attorneys general and financial regulators ordered the tech sales bootcamp to cease all operations, refund $30 million to defrauded students, and rescind all outstanding predatory private loans.
SBPC’s new investigation exposes how, in the months following this settlement, Jordan relaunched his scam school under the name FastTrack—making the same false promises and using the same marketing materials at the center of the 2023 enforcement action. SBPC sent letters outlining its investigation into FastTrack to the 11 states involved in the Prehired settlement.
Letters referring Prehired (d/b/a FastTrack) to state consumer protection officials for prosecution are available here: Washington, Delaware, Oregon, Minnesota, Illinois, South Carolina, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Virginia, Wisconsin, and California
A compendium of evidence documenting Prehired’s continued, unlawful practices: Here
A new blog from SBPC outlining SBPC’s investigation and the history of Prehired: Same Fraud, New Name: Disgraced Prehired CEO Relaunches Predatory Company as “FastTrack”
In February, an unrelated federal court case challenging the Trump Administration’s effort to “delete the CFPB” revealed that the agency had yet to distribute to defrauded students the $30 million in promised relief. Today’s investigation builds on this revelation, showing that the Trump-led CFPB has failed to make even a minimal effort to ensure Prehired complies with the consumer agency’s order to halt operations.
“For a student driven deeply into debt to pay for a scam school, the creditor’s name doesn’t matter—the Prehired/FastTrack scheme exposes the dark underbelly of our workforce training system, where financial predators exploit the American dream to make a quick buck,” said SBPC executive director Mike Pierce. “Across the country, crooks like Joshua Jordan are newly empowered to cheat people and steal their money—a direct consequence of the Trump Administration’s decision to dismantle the federal watchdog that is supposed to keep us all safe.”
“With the ongoing actions to shutter the CFPB, it is clear that state regulators and law enforcement must take action to protect students from scammers like Joshua Jordan,” said SBPC research and policy analyst Ella Azoulay. “It is long past time that repeat offenders like Jordan are permanently banned from this industry once and for all and that students get the relief they deserve.”
SBPC’s letters warned the state attorneys general of Washington, Delaware, Oregon, Minnesota, Illinois, South Carolina, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Virginia, and Wisconsin, along with the California Department of Consumer Financial Protection and Innovation about Prehired’s apparent violations of its consent decree and federal and state consumer protection laws.
The November 2023 enforcement action responded to allegations that Prehired used a startling range of lies to lure students into a scam training program that locked them into tens of thousands of dollars in predatory shadow student debt through Income Share Agreements (ISAs).
The action also alleges that Prehired took brazen steps to try to collect on these illegitimate debts, including by trying to turn Delaware courts into their personal debt collection machine and by attempting to lock harmed borrowers into shady back-room arbitration instead of allowing them to have their day in court. This is the second time that the federal agency has affirmed that ISAs are student loans.
The Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC) first investigated and called attention to these abuses of state courts in early 2022, after connecting with Prehired students.
Prehired ultimately declared bankruptcy in 2022, soon after it was sued on similar grounds by the state of Washington. The CFPB and states’ action and settlement agreement were filed in 2023 as an adversary proceeding, the equivalent of a lawsuit in federal bankruptcy court.
Background
In February 2022, the SBPC first broke the story of Prehired’s abusive loan practices after being contacted by former Prehired students. The SBPC worked with these former students to investigate Prehired, its executives, and its financing partners—sharing evidence of a wide range of illegal practices with federal and state consumer protection officials.
The November 2023 enforcement actions were the culmination of “at least 16” independent federal and state investigations into Prehired’s abuses, led by Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, and the federal CFPB.
Further Reading
CFPB and 11 states 2023 consent decree with Prehired:
https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-and-11-states-order-prehired-to-provide-students-more-than-30-million-in-relief-for-illegal-student-lending-practices/
SBPC blog post first warning about Prehired: https://bit.ly/SBPC-prehired-expose
Fact sheet documenting Prehired’s abuses: https://protectborrowers.org/Prehired-Fact-Sheet
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About Student Borrower Protection Center
Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC) is a nonprofit organization focused on eliminating the burden of student debt for millions of Americans. We engage in advocacy, policymaking, and litigation strategy to rein in industry abuses, protect borrowers’ rights, and advance racial and economic justice.
Learn more at protectborrowers.org or follow SBPC on Twitter @theSBPC.