Agreement reached between UMES & students after program was

out of a physician assistant academic program after it was forced to shut down. a settlement between u-m-e-s and dozens of former students — means the state of maryland will pay out big money. 47 abc’s michelle mackonochie spoke with the lawyer who represented those students – and has the details. track 1 it’s not clear exactly how much the state will have to pay — because both the students attorney and the attorney generals office wont confirm to 47 abc — the amount of the settlement. but considering there are more than 30 umes students involved – and they’re seeking compensation for travel and academic time lost – it’s safe to say the amount is likely substancial. robin cockey of cockey brennan and maloney law firm represented the 30-plus students. “rather abruptly last year the program lost its accreditation and the school instead of challenging or appealing the loss of accreditation decided to shut the program down.” track 2 that’s when students reached out to cockey and his collague ashley bosche bow-che . he says they were then able to negotiate a settlement — thanks in part to senator mathias and his office and doctor juliette bell – president of umes. the compromise would compensate the students for the money they spent having to go to a different school for classes. 47 abc reached out to u-m-e-s and they released the following statement to 47 abc — “on advice of counsel in the office of the attorney general assigned to handle this matter, the university is not in a position to engage in public discourse about physician assistant program claims.” when the students left — cockey says they were able to continue their studies where they left off — at different schools. “there are other programs in the area that they’ve been able to pursue.” “these are strong students with good credentials and the programs that admitted them were cooperative i think fortunately i think everybody has been able to move on and move in the right direction professionally.” track 5 michelle mackonochie 47 abc. as far as the class coming back — umes officials tell 47 abc that the university is committed to offering a physical assistant degree in the future but the institution has not formally initiated a plan to return it to the curriculum. hillary clinton won the popular vote – but donald