Westwood College I am a Westwood college graduate with student loan debts exceeding $50,000. I currently was laid off due to state budget cuts and have not been able to find a job with my Bachelor's degree in Crimina chicago, Illinois

Indeed.  There are thousands of students who will be graduating next month with no hope of finding employment within their field of study, if ANY job at all  ( You want fries with that ? ).  The one exception that I have seen is the medical profession.  For example, nurses are in great demand all over the country and at premium pay levels ( some of my nursing students have told me that they have already received job offers for nursing positions STARTING at over $60,000 a year ).  Keep plugging away.  Criminal Justice is also a profession that is in demand.

Government loans, such as Sallie Mae, are never released in a bankrupcy.  There are many people with degrees that can't get jobs these days.

"  I currently was laid off due to state budget cuts and have not been able to find a job with my Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice with Westwood College.  "

  That's not unusual.  If your employment opportunities are focused on the public sector, it's not a good time to be job hunting.   This applies to non-graduates as well.

"  I was left with no choice but to file bankruptcy to have Sallie Mae collection calls stop harassing me and give me time to find a job.  "

  Interesting.   I was under the impression that government guaranteed student loans could not be discharged in a bankruptcy.   How is that working out?

"   I just recently heard Westwood college is being sue and I am interested in also pursuing a lawsuit against them.    "

   You didn't mention why you wanted to pursue a lawsuit against them.   You apparently were able to obtain employment after graduation, so what grounds are you claiming?   

" What can I do and can you help me, please?  "

   As a criminal justice graduate, this should be an easy one.   Start calling lawyers and pitching your case.   One piece of advice :  Come up with an actual reason that the school owes you something.

  Good luck.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has filed a lawsuit against Westwood College, accusing the for-profit school of deceptive marketing, no surprise there. Westwood states that they have hundreds of successful graduates working in the private sector using the degree you obtained. Compared to the thousands of students who have graduated from this scam college, you can figure out the success rate of gainful employment after graduating yourself.

You can start by filing an official complaint here: http://illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/consumers/filecomplaint.html and also visit and file a complaint  for the AG Office for the State of Colorado here: https://www.coloradoattorneygeneral.gov/departments/consumer_protection/file_consumer_complaint

Unfortunately, college loans cannot be discharged in bankruptcy. Until Congress and the Senate offers additional relief for those students who were lied and scammed by for-profit institutions like Westwood, you are stuck with the full balance of the loans, a worthless education and a fake degree not recognized.