NEW YORK, Feb. 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Across the Pond, an education recruitment company that places U.S. students in U.K. universities, and its co-founder have collectively agreed to pay $1.3 million dollars to settle claims they violated U.S. rules around how recruitment companies are paid when targeting U.S. students that receive federal loans.
This settlement resolves claims brought by both the government and the whistleblower, who was represented by a coalition of three firms: Whistleblower Partners LLP, Constantine Cannon LLP, and Whistleblower Law Collaborative.
U.S. law prohibits per-student incentive payments to recruitment companies (what is known as the “Incentive Compensation Ban”). This Ban is intended to protect students from predatory and deceptive recruitment tactics that pressure students to take on student loans and enroll in schools for which they are not academically or financially prepared.
In 2021, a whistleblower filed a case under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act alerting the U.S. government that Across the Pond was allegedly violating the Incentive Compensation Ban by signing recruitment contracts with U.K. universities that provided for per-student payments for U.S. students recruited to attend these schools. In 2024, after investigating the whistleblower’s claims, the United States intervened in the matter and filed its own complaint.
The Incentive Compensation Ban has historically been a difficult to enforce area of government priority because it can be difficult to show concrete evidence that recruiters are being paid on an incentive structure. And few whistleblower lawsuits – if any – have concerned American students studying abroad. The unique aspects of this case mean that its impact reaches far beyond the United States. Already, the case has helped facilitate a national conversation in the U.K. around student recruitment practices.
All three firms representing the whistleblower credit the diligent work of the government attorneys and investigators from the Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education for their pursuit of this matter on behalf of the United States. The Department of Justice has emphasized that enforcement in the education fraud space remains a priority.
Poppy Alexander of Whistleblower Partners said, “This case once again proves that government contractors are not excused from following the rules simply by operating outside of national borders. In the education space in particular, the rules that protect the public fisc importantly play the dual role of protecting vulnerable students. Foreign universities and companies that actively recruit U.S. students need to play by the same rules as domestic universities to ensure everyone’s best interests are protected.”
“Strictly enforcing the Incentive Compensation Ban is crucial to protecting students from unsavory recruiting practices, protecting universities by ensuring they recruit only those students who are the best fit for their programs and studies, and protecting the public fisc from an increased risk of student loan defaults,” said Gordon Schnell of Constantine Cannon. “We are gratified by the government’s pursuit of this matter and its strict enforcement of this critical higher education enforcement tool.”
Erica Blachman Hitchings of Whistleblower Law Collaborative noted, “We are especially grateful for our client who shed light on this problematic practice and for the government team that doggedly investigated and litigated this matter.”
Contact
Lucy O’Brien
lobrien@prcg.com
(212) 683-8100
View original content:SOURCE Whistleblower Partners LLP, Constantine Cannon LLP, and Whistleblower Law Collaborative
