Need Advice: Private College & Loans

[Astroman]

Ok, as some of you might remember pre-hack I inquired about Western Culinary Institute in Portland, OR.

As some of you warned it was a crap school. Immediately after getting the loans arranged and signing up for the Hospitality and Business Management course shady tactics began to be revealed. For one, they didn't tell us, or any later visiting potential students for that matter that they would be discontinuing the course, my girlfriend was in their last class. Half the teachers quit part way through the program, forcing teachers to teach classes they knew nothing about, and one teacher even took off during winter break with student files. Anyway, she completed all her classes and graduated. She has a loan from Wells Fargo and another small loan from the school.

The school is absolutly refusing to give her the degree until she makes 3 consecutive payments in a row. There was a computer glitch on their end one month and even though we paid they said she had to start over with payments, so were back to only 1 month consecutively paid, and now they are refusing to transfer her official transcripts to the local community college here as WCI was crap and she didn't get taught anything (also for example they don't help students find work, they go on craigslist and give the students printouts of jobs!)

Can they refuse to transfer her transcripts to another college like that?? We need them to get transferred for her financial aid. Also is there an attorney we could contact who might help us get her $ back from the school to get the loan repaid? She doesn't want the degree now as they didn't teach her anything, and is aware she will need to pay the interest to the banks.

We just have no idea where to start, and have $45,000 in student loans for a worthless school that just showed powerpoint presentations, didn't help with the externship or job placement. Oh, also the school wants her to sign a release form so she can get her transcripts, saying she's releasing them from all liability. I call BS.

Help!?!