Eastern Gateway, along with Central State University in Greene County, was one of several colleges in the country that offered a free college program, largely online, through the Career Plus program.
Career Plus was a collaboration with several labor unions, including the AFL-CIO and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The program allowed students who were either union employees or the children of union employees to combine the aid students can qualify for by filling out the FAFSA with union money to pay the full cost of tuition.
Central State terminated its partnership with the Student Resource Center, which ran the free college program, in September 2022, and no longer offers the program.
On Jan. 4, the Special Investigation Unit executed a search warrant at Eastern Gateway along with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Computer Crimes Unit, the U.S. Secret Service, the Columbus Division of Police’s Digital Forensics Unit and the Ohio Narcotics Intelligence Center.
The agency said the January 2024 action was separate from the August 2023 indictments of former college administrators, when former Eastern Gateway president Jimmie Bruce and former college vice president and chief of staff James Miller were accused of stealing thousands of dollars while in office and charged with multiple felonies.
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