Saint James School of Medicine: operating on lies

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Choosing a medical school is a big decision, and lesser-known schools work hard to get your attention. Some set themselves apart by boasting about high first-time pass rates on standardized medical license tests, and high residency match rates. But what if their claims aren’t actually true? That happened with Saint James School of Medicine — and that’s why the FTC is taking action today.

Thanks to a settlement with the FTC, Saint James School of Medicine will pay more than $1.2 million to students, both in refunds and debt cancellation. That’s the price of recruiting students by lying about their chances of success — both in passing a big medical school standardized test, and in matching with a residency program after graduating.

What exactly did Saint James say? Among other things, they claimed their test pass rate was over 93% (it’s actually 35%), and their residency match rate was over 83% (it’s actually 63%). Not only are those advertised rates lies, but it turns out Saint James skewed the test results by only letting students take the test if they first passed a practice exam — even though there's no practice exam requirement for taking the test.

If you went to Saint James School of Medicine between 2016 and 2022, you might be eligible for a refund. No need to apply or submit a claim to get a payment — the FTC will reach out directly to anyone who’s eligible. Watch this space for more info, and sign up for email updates from the FTC.

Before enrolling in school, check out Choosing a College: Questions to Ask. And, to see what people are saying about schools you’re considering, search online for the school’s name plus words like “review,” “complaint” or “scam.”