For-Profit Trade School Owner Guilty of Defrauding Veterans
April 19, 2021 - The U.S. Department of Justice announced that the owner of for-profit trade school Retail Ready was convicted of defrauding student veterans. Jonathan Dean Davis ran an HVAC training course and collected [...]
Letter to VA and Louisiana State Approving Agency about US K9 Unlimited
We alerted VA and state authorities about a K9 training school that allegedly mistreated and threatened student veterans, purposefully structured programs to get as much money out of veterans' GI Bill benefits as it could, [...]
Our Letter to the VA Advisory Committee on Education
December 7, 2020 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Education Services 810 Vermont Avenue NW Washington DC 20420 Via electronic submission to [email protected] Re: Advisory Committee on Education Dear Members of the Advisory Committee, [...]
Maryland Wins $2.6 Million in Loan Forgiveness for Brightwood College Students
November 16, 2020 - The Maryland Attorney General reached a settlement with Brightwood College to provide loan relief to Maryland students. Any loans owed directly to the school by Maryland students will be cancelled and, [...]
Great News for Veterans Cheated By Their School! “Borrower Defense” Applicants Get a Win in Court
November 23, 2020 For information: Call (202) 838-5050 Great news for veterans who were cheated or misled by their school! The U.S. Education Department has voluntarily agreed to stop denying "borrower defense" applications from students [...]
Republic Reports and Huffington Post Career Education Corp., Tied to DeVos Aides, Pays Millions to Settle State Claims of Illegal Practices
For-profit college chain Career Education Corp., a company closely tied to top officials of the Betsy DeVos Department of Education, announced today it has settled with the attorneys general of 48 states and the District [...]
Politico Morning Education: Veterans Education Success is out with an issue brief examining the closure of Education Corporation of America
Veterans Education Success is out with an issue brief examining the closure of Education Corporation of America.
Task & Purpose: The VA May Blow $2.3 Billion in GI Bill on Schools That Don’t Deserve It, the IG Says
The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) has issued the latest in a series of five audits charging that the Department of Veterans Affairs' oversight failures could potentially lead to $2.3 billion in GI Bill money [...]
Inside Higher Ed: New York City Sues For-Profit College
Cities rarely sue colleges, but New York has received so many complaints against for-profit institutions that it brought a complaint Friday against Berkeley College New York in state court. The New York City Department of [...]
Is Trident University a Good Choice for Military-Connected Students?
Trident, a University that focuses heavily on recruiting military-connected students, has a mixed record. Its outcomes are better than Ashford’s, another for-profit school that is exclusively online, and the proportion of Trident students with federal [...]
Politico: Veterans Education Success is out with a new analysis of student outcomes at for-profit schools that are accredited by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools.
The group finds that outcomes at the schools are worse now than they were in 2016 when the Obama administration terminated the accreditor. The Trump administration has recommended a one-year extension of federal recognition for [...]
Inside Higher Ed: For-Profit Chain Will Close Dozens of Campuses
Education Corporation of America, a for-profit higher education provider with locations across the country, plans to close 26 campuses -- a third of its current total -- by early 2020. The closures would affect almost [...]
AP: For-profit colleges have allies now, but complaints persist
A lawsuit against Ashford University describes an admissions office with a cutthroat sales culture more akin to a used-car lot than a place of higher learning, peddling “false promises and faulty information” to lure students [...]
CNN: Betsy DeVos’ rollback of Obama’s for-profit college rules is almost complete
(CNN) Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is rolling back another Obama-era regulation that was meant to protect students from abusive practices by for-profit schools and colleges. On Friday, DeVos said she plans to fully repeal [...]
Press Release: Ed Department Proposes Rules to Help Predatory Schools Instead of Veterans
DeVos’s Proposed Borrower Defense Rule Rewrites Epitaph For Predatory Schools Like Corinthian and ITT July 26, 2018 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Walter Ochinko, Research Director, who served as a Borrower Defense negotiator representing military and [...]
CNBC: Thousands of Students Who Say They Were Defrauded by the Art Institute Awaiting an Answer From the Government
"Carrie Wofford, president of Veterans Education Success, a nonprofit advocacy group, has said some for-profit schools do not explain to students that they’re signing up for loans. She has argued that the 'master promissory note,' [...]
Piercing the Veil of Covert For-Profit Colleges
Recent efforts by certain predatory for-profit colleges to convert to nonprofit status1 raises the question of whether the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) can continue to exercise jurisdiction over those entities’ misleading and deceptive recruiting [...]
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Deal under scrutiny as Art Institutes face accreditation setbacks
An email appeared in students’ inboxes on Jan. 23: “I am writing to share some very exciting news with you,” wrote Daniel C. Snyder, director of student services for The Art Institute of Colorado. The Denver school — [...]
The Hechinger Report: Military Veterans Decry Debt, Useless Diplomas from For-Profit Colleges
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — After serving four years in the military, John Andrews, 42, adjusted to civilian life by working at his local Walmart in Arkansas. Encouraged by co-workers, he also went back to school, hoping [...]
Inside Higher Ed: For-Profit Tuition Rises as GI Benefit Grows
A long-held conservative viewpoint on financial aid goes like this: as government assistance gets more generous, colleges and universities simply respond by raising tuition, worsening affordability. A new working paper takes a look at the so-called Bennett [...]
Inside Sources: For-Profit College Conversions to Nonprofit Entities Attacked as Regulatory Shields
Opponents of for-profit colleges are warning that schools will use a conversion to nonprofit status to shield themselves from regulatory scrutiny. The verbal beatdown came during a three-hour hearing of a U.S. Department of Education [...]
NYT Opinion: Predatory Colleges, Freed to Fleece Students
Try as they might, the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress cannot disguise that they continue to do the bidding of the for-profit college industry, which has saddled working-class students with crushing debt while providing [...]
Republic Report: Inside a For-Profit College Conversion: Lucrative Ties, Troubling Actions
On the phone, Brent Richardson, the CEO and co-chairman of the new non-profit Dream Center Education Holdings LLC (DCEH), seemed to be losing patience. DCEH was now running the Art Institutes (Ai), Argosy University, and [...]
New York Times: Education Department Unwinds Unit Investigating Fraud at For-Profits
WASHINGTON — Members of a special team at the Education Department that had been investigating widespread abuses by for-profit colleges have been marginalized, reassigned or instructed to focus on other matters, according to current and [...]
Military Law Matters: Predatory For-Profit Colleges that Target Veterans who have the GI Bill
Learn how Veterans Education Success provides free legal services for veterans including college and career counseling to veterans, servicemembers, and their survivors and families who have faced college fraud or abuse in using their GI [...]
Washington Post: VA Suspends DeVry University From a Key Veterans Program
The Department of Veterans Affairs on Monday suspended DeVry University from participation in a program that identifies schools doing a good job of serving former troops, in light of a federal lawsuit accusing the for-profit chain of misleading [...]
The Chronicle: Ashford U. Faces New Setback in Battle Over GI Bill Funds
California regulators have shot down Ashford University’s request for GI Bill eligibility — dealing the for-profit college a significant blow that could reverberate nationwide. Under federal rules, colleges that serve veteran students are supposed to [...]
Marketwatch: Job-Training Programs at For-Profit Colleges Actually Make Students Worse Off
Students who attend programs at for-profit colleges with hopes of training for a career appear to end up worse off than if they never moved on to higher education at all. After attending certificate programs [...]
Brookings Institution: Gainfully employed? New Evidence on the Earnings, Employment, and Debt of For-Profit Certificate Students
As the U.S. Department of Education proposes weakening the Gainful Employment (GE) rules regulating for-profit and vocational education programs, accurate estimates of the earnings outcomes and debt incurred by students in these programs are essential [...]
Legal News Line: DeVry University Students Allege School Misrepresented Employment, Income Rates of Graduates
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Legal Newsline) – DeVry University students allege they were misled by the school's advertising and are seeking restitution. Luis Rangel, Seth Adomako, Christina Cabello, et al. filed a complaint on Jan. 25 [...]
Military Times: Court Settlement for Former ITT Students Moves Forward
Former students of the bankrupt ITT Technical Institute are one step closer to seeing some compensation. A judge gave preliminary approval Wednesday for former students of the collapsed chain of for-profit schools to receive a [...]
Children’s Advocacy Institute: Failing U: Do state laws protect our veterans and other students from for-profit postsecondary predators?
The Children’s Advocacy Institute (CAI), part of the University of San Diego School of Law, identified several elements that are essential to addressing the problems outlined in this report and protecting students by effectively regulating [...]
Military Times: More Regulation Needed for ‘Predatory Schools’?
If the Veterans Affairs Department approves a school for GI Bill funding, does that mean it’s a good school? The answer should be yes, said Tanya Ang, policy and outreach director for the nonprofit Veterans [...]
MarketWatch: New Film Exposes How For-Profit Colleges Exploit Veterans and Single Moms
A little bit more than an hour into “Fail State,” a documentary about the rise of for-profit colleges, Jennifer Wilson, a graduate from one of these schools, looks at the camera and distills the essence [...]
Military Times: Wasting Money? Most New Recruits Pay $1,200 for Lesser Education Benefit
A large majority of new service members are spending $1,200 on a veterans education benefit they will never use. Military service branches automatically enroll their recruits in a decades-old GI Bill either during, or soon [...]
Reveal: Senators Want to Examine Military Contracts with For-Profit Schools
Two U.S. senators have asked the Pentagon to hand over five years of sponsorship contracts between military bases and for-profit colleges, citing an exposé by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting. Records obtained by Reveal show [...]
Reuters: U.S. Not Granting Loan Relief to Defrauded Students: Inspector General
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Education Department under President Donald Trump and Secretary Betsy DeVos has stopped cancelling the student-loan debt of people defrauded by failed for-profit schools and those borrowers face mounting interest and [...]
Business Insider: For-Profit Colleges Target Military Veterans: Military veterans are being targeted by an industry ‘infamous for saddling people with debt and useless degrees’
The Department of Education began negotiations to change regulations related to the for-profit college industry in December, a move that some advocates say will harm students. "This proceeding is blocking a regulation that was carefully considered and [...]
New York Times: Exploiting Veterans for Profit
Editorial Exploiting Veterans for Profit By The Editorial Board Nov. 24, 2017 Despite efforts by Congress, the Obama administration and state attorneys general to stop the predatory practices of for-profit colleges, veterans and service members [...]
Military Times: What Will The Trump Era Mean for For-Profit Schools?
“It’s time for a regulatory reset.” With six words last June, Betsy DeVos, President Trump’s education secretary, ushered in a new era for schools that operate as businesses, putting a pause — and, some fear, [...]
Greenfield Reporter: Law Restores Education Benefits For Vets
A U.S. Navy veteran, Nyikos of Greenfield had exhausted 22 months of GI Bill benefits when ITT Technical Institute closed campuses across the country last September amid scrutiny of its accreditation and recruiting practices. He [...]
FOX59: VA To Begin Notifying Thousands of Veterans Who Lost Benefits When ITT Tech Shut Down
In the coming weeks, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will begin notifying thousands of veterans caught up in the middle of the abrupt closing of ITT Tech last year. As part of the Forever [...]
U.S. Representative Luke Messer (R-IN) Meets with Indiana Student Veterans About Forever GI Bill; New Law Will Restore Benefits to Veterans Attending ITT Tech When School Closed
Rep. Messer Press Release here Photos here Coverage by Fox59 TV Indianapolis: VA To Begin Notifying Thousands of Veterans Who Lost Benefits When ITT Tech Shut Down; Greenfield Daily Reporter: Law Restores Education [...]
Marketwatch: These Colleges Use a Loophole to Make Billions Off the GI Bill
Over the past few years, the for-profit college industry has experienced a reckoning of sorts as increased scrutiny and the recovering economy led to enrollment declines and in the case of some schools — full-scale [...]
USA Today: For-Profit Schools to Vets: Thanks for Your Service — and Taxpayer-Backed Tuition
This Veterans Day, for-profit institutions of higher learning across the nation are thanking soldiers for their service — and tuition checks. Struggling with declining enrollment, for-profit colleges, universities and trade schools are increasingly turning to [...]
The Chronicle of Higher Education: Inside the Scramble to Save Ashford U: How Political Maneuvering Kept GI Bill Funds Flowing to a For-Profit University
Ashford University’s future was hanging in the balance. The for-profit institution risked losing access to tens of millions of dollars in GI Bill funds. Over the summer, its lobbyists were scrambling.
The Economist: For-Profit Colleges in America Relaunch Themselves as Non-Profits: Betsy DeVos, Trump’s Education Secretary, May Not Be Able To Rescue Them
GOVERNMENT funds set aside for college aid have long been a favoured target for grifters. After the second world war, veterans flush on GI Bill funds would sign up for sham television-repair courses. After receiving [...]
Military Times: Vets Groups Renew Efforts to Limit For-Profit Schools’ Access to GI Bill Dollars
Veterans groups are redoubling their efforts to restrict how much money for-profit colleges can accept from student veterans’ tuition payouts after indications that the industry is becoming even more reliant on their education benefits to [...]
Press Release: Veterans Education Success Releases New Report Showing 90/10 Loophole is Worse Than Previously Thought: Department of Education Data Shows Increased Targeting of Veterans and Servicemembers, Highlighting Urgency of Closing 90/10 Loophole
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 9, 2017 CONTACTS: Walter Ochinko, (202) 838-5050 Department of Education Data Shows Increased Targeting of Veterans and Servicemembers, Highlighting Urgency of Closing 90/10 Loophole Today, Veterans Education Success is [...]
The Century Foundation: College Complaints Unmasked: 99 Percent of Student Fraud Claims Concern For-Profit Colleges
The Century Foundation (TCF) has obtained new data from the U.S. Department of Education about nearly 100,000 “borrower defense claims”—applications for loan relief from students who maintain that they have been defrauded or misled by [...]
DIIHE: Certain For-profit Colleges Leave Veterans in a Bind
Terry Jack will be the first one to tell you he has made his share of mistakes. By his own account, the Army veteran from Tucson, Arizona, has been twice convicted of a DUI. He says [...]
Repayment Status for First-Time Student Veterans 12 Years After Enrolling
Veterans Education Success Releases Analysis of Veteran Student Loan Repayment and Default Rates FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Contact: Walter Ochinko (202) 838-5050 Kathleen Payea (202) 838-5050 October 23, 2017 - Today, Veterans Education Success [...]
Veterans Education Success Hails FTC Action Against Fraudulent “Military-Friendly Schools”
Veterans Education Success praises FTC’s Action Today Against Victory Media and GI Jobs Magazine for Defrauding Veterans with its Fake “Military Friendly Schools” Rankings and Promotions FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Contact: Carrie Wofford (202) 838-5050 [...]
Kentucky Attorney General announces final approval of sanctions against National University (aka American National University of Kentucky) for defrauding students and failing to comply with state subpoena
FRANKFORT, KY. (Oct. 19, 2017) – Attorney General Andy Beshear today announced that his office has won the final appeal in a case requiring American National University of Kentucky to pay $147,000 in civil monetary [...]
Business Insider: VA Seeks “Narrow” Exemption to For-Profit College Ethics Law
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Veterans Affairs says it will proceed with a narrow waiver to a federal ethics law banning employees from receiving benefits from for-profit colleges. The move comes after VA abruptly [...]
Politico: What’s Next for the VA’s For-Profit College Ethics Policy?
The Trump administration, in today's Federal Register, is officially backing away from its plan to exempt all Department of Veterans Affairs employees from a federal law prohibiting them from having a financial interest in or [...]
Repayment Status for First-Time Student Veterans 12 Years After Enrolling
Drawing on the National Center for Education Statistics' First Look report on Student Loan Debt, Repayment and Default, this Issue Brief highlights key findings on veteran student loan debt.
Associated Press: VA Abruptly Drops Plan to Suspend Ethics Law
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Veterans Affairs abruptly dropped plans Wednesday to suspend an ethics law barring employees from receiving benefits from for-profit colleges. The move comes after criticism from government watchdogs who warned [...]
Pro Publica & USA Today: For-Profit Schools Reward Students for Referrals and Facebook Endorsements
Lyla Elkins transferred to North Nicholas High School in Cape Coral, Florida, in 2016 with hopes of sailing through its computer-based courses and graduating early. She didn’t realize the for-profit charter school would also be [...]
Task & Purpose: To Protect Veterans, Keep The VA Ban On Employees Working With For-Profit Colleges
On Sept. 14, the Department of Veterans Affairs quietly announced that it will waive a common-sense ethics law for all of its employees. For over 50 years, the VA has prohibited employees from receiving payments or having [...]
PBS NewsHour: For-Profit College Students Twice as Likely to Default on Loans, Report Says
WASHINGTON — Students who attended for-profit colleges were twice as likely or more to default on their loans than students who attended public educational institutions, according to a federal study published Wednesday.
The Daily Free Press: For-profit Universities: Fake, Fraudulent and Supported by the Federal Government
For-profit universities have been scamming and swindling unsuspecting students for as long as they’ve existed. Many of these schools are unaccredited — providing students with credits that can’t be transferred and degrees that can’t be [...]
T&P: VA About to Scrap Ethics Law that Helps Safeguard Veterans From Predatory For-Profit Colleges
An ethics law that prohibits Department of Veterans Affairs employees from receiving money or owning a stake in for-profit colleges that rake in millions in G.I. Bill tuition has “illogical and unintended consequences,” according to VA, [...]
The Chronicle: To Lighten the Regulatory Load, Focus on For-Profits
Dear Secretary DeVos: From the testimony and interviews you have given, I gather that you believe strongly in providing taxpayer funds to colleges owned by for-profit companies. You believe that, relieved of the requirements and [...]
Huffington Post: Troubles Compound for Predatory CollegeAmerica Chain
In August 2016, the Obama administration delivered a powerful blow to the CollegeAmerica/ Stevens-Henager chain of career colleges. The chain, previously a for-profit company, sold itself in 2012 to a small non-profit organization called the Center [...]
New York Times: Veterans Agency Seeks to Scrap Ethics Law on For-Profit Colleges
The Department of Veterans Affairs is pushing to suspend a 50-year-old ethics law that prevents employees from receiving money or owning a stake in for-profit colleges that pocket hundreds of millions of dollars in tuition [...]
Loyola Phoenix: Unregulated Universities Make Profit off Their Students
We’ve all seen the commercials before — the ones with successful members of the workforce raving about their experience at their respective for-profit institutions: Kaplan University, DeVry University, Everest University, ITT Technical Institute and a [...]
Fox 45 Baltimore (Video): What you need to know about for-profit schools
For-profit colleges have been the subject of controversy for leaving students without the skills promised. Marceline White from The Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition joins us to talk about the potential dangers and give students alternative [...]
Inside Higher Ed Report: 20 University of Phoenix Campuses to Close
Phoenix New Times reported Monday that the University of Phoenix is planning to close about 20 campuses around the country. The campuses reportedly include both full-fledged campuses and smaller learning centers. The university did not confirm [...]
Inside Higher Ed: Wis. Governor Kills For-Profit Oversight Agency
After years of attempts, Scott Walker, Wisconsin's Republican governor, has successfully eliminated the state's Education Approval Board as an independent agency tasked with overseeing for-profit colleges. Walker's partial veto last week of a budget bill accelerated the timetable [...]
U.S. News & World Report: 1 in 3 ‘Career Colleges’ Saddle Grads With Limited Earnings Potential, Unmanageable Debt
ONE OUT OF 10 GRADUATES of so-called "career colleges" attended schools that were flagged for their students failing to make a high enough salary to sufficiently pay down their loans after graduating, according to data collected [...]
GQ: Betsy DeVos Accused Students Who Were Defrauded by For-Profit Colleges of Wanting “Free Money”
Betsy DeVos must love negative attention. You see, usually the secretary of education, though an important position, isn't an incredibly public one. I mean, sure, we all knew Arne Duncan played basketball, and were aware [...]
ABC 15 Arizona: Your college degree could be worthless if it isn’t from an accredited school
Most students are back in school. If you're supposed to graduate this year or next, or you're looking for a school, you may be concerned about the degree you'll be getting. In some cases, you [...]
The Baltimore Sun: Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition launches campaign warning about risks of for-profit colleges
Nakia Trezevant spent a year studying information technology at ITT Technical Institute in Owings Mills. She said she has nothing to show for it but $12,000 in debt. The for-profit educational firm, which had two [...]
The Denver Post: DeVos Should Keep Rules Targeting For-Profit Colleges
For-profit colleges have their place in higher education, but too many operators have proved to be incredibly bad actors over the years, making reasonable rules meant to protect students the smart play.
Phoenix New Times: Getting Educated or Getting Schooled? Divergent Views of Grand Canyon University
The recruiter arrived during the lunch break. Lisa Coslett met him while she was working at the daycare center. An enthusiastic man named Russ McKee encouraged her to consider a master’s degree in special education. [...]
Military Times: Vet Organizations Back Obama-Era College Regulations
Dozens of military and veteran service organizations are pushing back against the Department of Education’s decision earlier this year to suspend enforcement of Obama-era rules aimed largely at for-profit colleges and universities. Leaders of 36 [...]
Student Loan Hero: Betsy DeVos’ Controversial Decision Could Make Kaplan University and The Art Institutes Nonprofit
Yesterday, BuzzFeed News reported Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and the Department of Education have cleared the way for two for-profit institutions — Kaplan University and Education Management Corp (EDMC), the parent company of Argosy University, South University, [...]
CQ Roll Call: Veterans Groups Decry VA Plan to Relax For-Profit School Ties
A new Department of Veterans Affairs proposal to relax current conflict-of-interest rules and allow employees to more easily become involved with for-profit colleges has veteran advocates concerned that the schools could have more influence within the [...]
USA Today: New questions raised about how for-profit colleges recruit the military
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — Even reserve Army attorneys say that Fort Campbell "missed something" that allowed a prominent for-profit college to recruit active duty soldiers at dozens of events two years ago before the school was temporarily [...]
Buzzfeed: The Education Department Will Allow Two Large For-Profit Colleges To Become Nonprofits
The Education Department has offered its stamp of approval for the controversial sale of two massive for-profit colleges, Kaplan University and the Art Institutes, according to emails obtained by BuzzFeed News — allowing both schools [...]
The Nation: Betsy DeVos Is Helping Education Profiteers Rip Off Students
When Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was confirmed, the major fear was that she would radically overhaul the public-education system and institute a broad school-voucher program. It turns out that requires congressional action that hasn’t been [...]
Reveal: Trump Administration Seeks to Legalize Payoffs to VA Officials by For-Profit Schools
The Trump administration is seeking to waive a 50-year-old anti-corruption law that prevents officials who administer the GI Bill from accepting money from for-profit schools backed by taxpayer subsidies. The proposed regulation, published Thursday in the Federal Register, [...]
Vice News: These students are suing their for-profit school
For-profit colleges and universities have received increased scrutiny in recent years for their part in helping to drive up the level of U.S. student debt, which now tops $1.3 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve [...]
New York Times: Federal Inquiry of Charlotte Law School is Disclosed by Suit
Barbara Bernier arrived at Charlotte School of Law four years ago to teach constitutional and other law courses. But what she found at the for-profit law school was different from her prior teaching experiences, so [...]
Reveal: University of Phoenix Gained Special Access to Military Base – For a Price
U.S. military commanders allowed representatives of the University of Phoenix to erect banners advertising the for-profit college on one of America’s largest military bases and permitted them to place promotional materials in high-traffic areas on [...]
Dallas News: Hundreds of veterans scramble after Garland for-profit college closes
GARLAND — Hundreds of veterans are scrambling to figure out what’s next for them after a for-profit college they were attending suddenly shut down Wednesday. The Texas Veterans Commission issued a news release Thursday evening [...]
Mercury News: Thousands of Former Corinthian Colleges Students Win Debt Relief
Approximately 13,000 Californians who attended now-defunct Corinthian Colleges will see some $51 million in debt relief as part of a settlement finalized Monday between the private equity firm Aequitas Capital Management and the state’s attorney general, [...]
Inside Higher Ed: The Slow Death of a For-Profit Law School: Abrupt Closure of Charlotte School of Law
Charlotte School of Law, a for-profit institution based in North Carolina, appeared to abruptly shut down Tuesday, just days after losing its license to operate in the state. No one associated with the law school publicly commented. [...]
Journal Sentinel: For-Profit College Shut Down in Wisconsin is Back Under New Ownership
A for-profit college shut down by the Obama administration in December is back in Wisconsin under new ownership, with four locations enrolling new students in career-education programs. Globe University had campuses in Eau Claire, La Crosse, Madison, Appleton [...]
Military Times: Ashford University Maintains GI Bill Eligibility, Blasts VA
An online university in danger of losing its eligibility to enroll GI Bill users, recently allowed by the Department of Veterans Affairs to continue such enrollments pending court appeals, is accusing the VA of disseminating [...]
Politico: Morning Education: For-Profit College Faces Off with the Feds over Vet Benefits
FOR-PROFIT COLLEGE FACES OFF WITH FEDS OVER VET BENEFITS: Amid its battle with a state regulator, Ashford University is now sparring with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs over its ability to accept tens of millions [...]
The Buffalo News: Students of For-Profit Colleges Struggle the Most Repaying Loans
Students who attended for-profit institutions struggled the most to pay down the principal on their student loans. For-profit schools also produced lower shares of students who earned annual incomes of at least $25,000. Nearly 85 [...]
Buzzfeed: How The For-Profit College Art Institutes Found A Savior With Christian Roots
Last year, with one of the country’s largest college chains on the verge of collapse, a tiny nonprofit with roots in the Pentecostal Church came to the Obama Education Department with an idea. The Dream [...]
New York Times: With Rare Unanimity, Senate Sends G.I. Bill Expansion to Trump
This article is about legislation we spearheaded and features one of the students we assisted. WASHINGTON — Caleb Bennett was days away from starting the final semester of an associate degree at ITT Technical Institute [...]
Media Matters: Newspapers reveal human costs of Betsy DeVos’ abandoning defrauded students
AP: DeVos has not approved a single application for debt relief from 65,000 defrauded students. The Associated Press reported July 26 that the Education Department, led by Secretary Betsy DeVos, has not approved a single application for [...]
Dallas Morning News: For-Profit College Rules Get Reset by U.S. Department of Education, and it Starts in University Park
Last month, U.S. Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos put the brakes on two Obama-era regulations designed to protect student borrowers at for-profit colleges, saying it was “time for a regulatory reset.” That reset started [...]
Christian Science Monitor: Students Caught in the Middle of For-Profit College Debate Ask, “What Now?”
On Sept. 6, 2016, Kevin Thompson switched on his car radio to the news that ITT Technical Institute was permanently closing its campuses nationwide. The Navy veteran was then 10 months into an 18-month bachelor’s program [...]
Los Angeles Times: It’s Betsy DeVos’ Job to Protect Students From Predatory For-Profit Colleges. She Should Do It
Given Donald Trump's frequent campaign promises to wipe out "job killing" regulations on Day One, no one should be surprised that the Trump administration is going after federal safeguards that protect consumers at the expense [...]
USA Today: Trump Administration Begins Re-Writing For-Profit Regulations
THE TRUMP administration on Monday began the process of overhauling Obama-era regulations meant to protect federal student loan borrowers, mainly from for-profit colleges, and to provide relief to students defrauded by them. Secretary of Education [...]
Akron Beacon Journal: Protect Students From Predatory For-Profit Colleges
The for-profit college industry has an ally in the federal Department of Education. The businesses would like few things better than the rewrite, or rejection, of two regulations crafted by the Obama White House. Betsy [...]
Boston Globe: Fighting Back Against For-Profit Universities
When Stephano Del Rose enrolled in the New England Institute of Art in Brookline, he had bold dreams of a future in Web design and filmmaking. Lured by promises of cutting-edge digital equipment, internships, and [...]
Dallas Morning News: For-Profit College Rules Get Reset by U.S. Department of Education, and It Starts in University Park
Last month, U.S. Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos put the brakes on two Obama-era regulations designed to protect student borrowers at for-profit colleges, saying it was “time for a regulatory reset.” That reset started [...]
New York Times: U.S. Halts New Rules Aimed at Abuses by For-Profit Schools
The Trump administration is formally reconsidering — and may dismantle — two new rules that were a cornerstone of the Obama administration’s crackdown on predatory for-profit colleges. The announcement by the Education Department on Wednesday [...]
New York Times: U.S. Halts New Rules Aimed at Abuses by For-Profit Schools
The Trump administration is formally reconsidering — and may dismantle — two new rules that were a cornerstone of the Obama administration’s crackdown on predatory for-profit colleges. The announcement by the Education Department on Wednesday [...]
New York Times: Ending the Curse of Remedial Math
Can you simplify this square root?” Erica Fells asks her class, and hands wave in the air. All but one of the students believe that it’s impossible to do so. The dissenter, Leslie Alcantara, lays [...]
Veterans with Pending Borrower Defense Applications at the Education Department
"I have a so-called degree from ITT Tech and found that most employers laugh at it. During my time there I had accrued a fair amount of debt from this fraudulent school and am having [...]
New York Times: U.S. Crackdown on For-Profit Schools Is Said to Go Idle
The Education Department’s sweeping crackdown on fraudulent practices at for- profit colleges has stalled under the Trump administration’s appointees, several current and former department employees say. Current and former employees, who requested anonymity for fear [...]
Blue Voter Red State Blog: Kaplan Cheats Veterans and Uses Veterans to Cheat the Government
The reason I started blogging about the Purdue-Kaplan deal is that it’s so confusing. When I first learned about it, it’s like my brain just said, “Huh? . . . Better think about something else [...]
“I have Student Debt, but No Degree” Veterans’ Letters to Ed Dept
Letters to the Education Secretary by students defrauded by schools
Courthouse News: Students Say Profit-Seeking College Bled Them Dry
SANTA FE, N.M. (CN) — Students claim in court that profit-seeking Laureate Education deliberately allowed the Santa Fe University of Art and Design to fail, stranding them in the middle of the academic year. Laureate [...]
New York Times: Keep For-Profit Schools on a Short Leash
Editorial Keep For-Profit Schools on a Short Leash By The Editorial Board May 1, 2017 For-profit colleges that leave students with crushing debt and useless degrees must be feeling optimistic. They have longed to escape [...]
Chronicle of Higher Education: There’s a Reason the Purdue-Kaplan Deal Sounds Too Good To Be True
In November 2010, Bloomberg News told the story of Iraq veteran Keith Melvin, who, after responding to a website ad, was contacted by the online, for-profit Kaplan University. The recruiters told him he could trust Kaplan because [...]
New York Times: Book Review Letter to the Editor regarding Lower Ed
To the Editor: Your review of Tressie McMillan Cottom’s “Lower Ed: The Troubling Rise of For-Profit Colleges in the New Economy” (March 12) missed the book’s key flaw: Cottom universalizes the experience of Atlanta-area, mostly [...]
New York Times: For-Profit Law School is Arizona is Put on Probation
Arizona Summit Law school, a troubled for-profit institution owned by the InfiLaw System, has been placed on probation by its accrediting body, the American Bar Association. The association’s move was announced on Monday and followed [...]
The Atlantic: The Closing of the Republican Mind on For-Profit Colleges
In Congress, on the presidential campaign trail, and in the editorial pages of The Wall Street Journal, Republicans have been unified in the belief that the Obama administration badly overreached in its attempts to regulate for-profit [...]
National Public Radio: How For-Profit Colleges Sell Risky Education to the Most Vulnerable
For-profit colleges have faced federal and state investigations in recent years for their aggressive recruiting tactics — accusations that come as no surprise to author Tressie McMillan Cottom. Cottom worked as an enrollment officer at two different [...]
Trib Live: GI Bill a ‘Cash Cow’ for Some Pennsylvania Schools
Federal records show that from 2011 to 2016, the for-profit school that graduates just 3.6 percent of enrolled veterans reaped $65 million through the Post-9/11 GI Bill — making it the largest recipient of money [...]
New York Times: Predator Colleges May Thrive Again
Editorial Predator Colleges May Thrive Again By The Editorial Board March 23, 2017 Congress has tried since the 1940s to curb predatory for-profit schools that survive almost solely on federal money while they saddle students [...]
Chicago SunTimes: Rolling Back For-Profit College Reforms Wastes Money and Lives
The reputation of the for-profit career college industry has been sullied for decades by con-artists and scammers. But in the last few years, some effort has been made to weed out the worst offenders, denying [...]
USA Today: Loosening of For-Profit School Rules Worries Student Advocates
Concerned that for-profit schools that don't deliver on promises may come roaring back under President Trump, advocates for students, teachers and veterans urged Congress this week to refrain from rolling back regulations enforcing the industry.
USA Today: Loosening of For-Profit School Rules Worries Student Advocates
Concerned that for-profit schools that don't deliver on promises may come roaring back under President Trump, advocates for students, teachers and veterans urged Congress this week to refrain from rolling back regulations enforcing the industry. Their letter, signed by [...]
New York Times: Betsy DeVos’s Hiring of For-Profit College Official Raises Impartiality Issues
As chief compliance officer for a corporate owner of for-profit colleges, Robert S. Eitel spent the past 18 months as a top lawyer for a company facing multiple government investigations, including one that ended with [...]
Huffington Post Hillbilly Irony: The GOP’s Embrace of the For-Profit College Industry Clashes with their Bootstraps Myth
It’s unusual for a book to make it onto everybody’s recommended reading list. JD Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy, which relates his journey from distressed Middletown, Ohio to Yale Law school and Silicon Valley, is like the [...]
The Century Foundation: When George H. W. Bush “Cracked Down” on Abuses at For-Profit Colleges
When George H. W. Bush became president on January 20, 1989, he inherited from the Reagan administration some unfinished business in higher education. Bill Bennett, President Reagan’s secretary of education, had launched an effort to [...]
Economic Policy Institute: Lower Ed: The Troubling Rise of For-Profit Colleges in the New Economy (panel discussion)
In Lower Ed Tressie McMillan Cottom—herself once a recruiter at two for-profit colleges—expertly parses the fraught dynamics of this big-money industry to show precisely how it is part and parcel of the growing inequality plaguing the country [...]
The Century Foundation: The Reagan Administration’s Campaign to Rein in Predatory For-Profit Colleges
No secretary of education has been more critical of traditional higher education than William Bennett, President Ronald Reagan’s second and best-known education secretary. Barely five days after taking office in February 1985, Bennett accused the [...]
Colorado Independent Veterans Feel Ripped Off by Colorado For-Profit College
Mark Glogouski has a bad heart. He relies on a pacemaker and defibrillator to keep it pumping. His doctors have repeatedly told him to avoid heavy labor if he wants to stay alive. So Glogouski, [...]
Brookings Institution: How Much Do For-Profit Colleges Rely on Federal Funds?
The outgoing Obama administration placed for-profit colleges under a great deal of scrutiny. This includes gainful employment regulations that will require graduates of vocationally-oriented programs to meet debt-to-earnings requirements and borrower defense to repayment rules [...]
Inside Higher Ed: Two For-Profits Ordered to Pay Restitution to Students
A Minnesota judge this week ruled that Globe University and the Minnesota School of Business, two embattled for-profits, must pay restitution to more than 1,200 defrauded students, reported the Star-Tribune. The state's attorney general, Lori Swanson, had sued the [...]
Washington Post: Former Students Fight for a Stake in ITT Tech Bankruptcy
Veterans Education Success worked to help several hundred ITT Tech student veterans file claims in the ITT Tech bankruptcy. And we offered support to Harvard Law School as they represented the students in a "class" [...]
U.S. Department of Education: New Analysis Finds Many For-Profit Colleges Skirt Federal Funding Limits: 90/10 Data Released
New analysis released today by the U.S. Department of Education reveals many for-profit schools would likely exceed the 90/10 federal funding limits if revenue from Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense [...]
The Kansas City Star: Missouri Senator Took Campaign Cash from Schools Accused of Ripping off Students
For the past two years, Sen. Roy Blunt has been a powerful ally to the nation’s beleaguered for-profit colleges as they fight government regulation. At the same time, the industry and its lobbyists have funneled [...]
New York Times: A Conveyor Belt of Dropouts and Debt at For-Profit Colleges
As college attendance has risen and investment in public institutions has flagged, the United States has relied increasingly on for-profit colleges, with disastrous consequences for many students. For-profits, once a tiny corner of higher education, [...]
Washington Monthly: For-Profit Colleges’ Campaign Contributions
For-profit colleges may be playing defense in the public perception, but they have not given up their offensive game, if their recent contributions to Congress are any indication. For-profit education colleges and trade groups donated [...]
Philadelphia Inquirer: ITT schools have been ripping off students and saddling them with debt for years
For decades, ITT Technical Institutes had a sweet deal: It gobbled up billions in federal student grants and loans in exchange for promised results that it rarely, if ever, produced. Finally, the Department of Education [...]
Washington Post: DeVry voluntarily dials back revenue from federal student aid
DeVry Education Group, one of the largest operators of for-profit colleges, said Tuesday that it will limit the amount of revenue it receives from federal student aid, including veterans and military tuition assistance, getting in front of a [...]
Washington Post: DeVry voluntarily dials back revenue from federal student aid
DeVry Education Group, one of the largest operators of for-profit colleges, said Tuesday that it will limit the amount of revenue it receives from federal student aid, including veterans and military tuition assistance, getting in front of a [...]
Indianapolis Business Journal: ITT Missteps Sowed Its Fate
Almost anyone under attack reflexively attacks back. And so it was on Sept. 6, the day top executives of ITT Educational Services announced they were closing their 136 ITT Technical Institutes, shuttering a pioneer in [...]
St. Louis Post Dispatch: Opinion: Closing ITT Tech Helps Stop For-Profit Colleges from Shaking Down Students
Some for-profit colleges came to be a curse on the very students they were in business to help, doing little more than exploiting students for their federal grants, loans and veterans benefits while failing to [...]
New York Times: Late to the Fight Against Predator Schools
The federal government’s failure over decades to regulate for-profit colleges freed the schools to prey on veterans, minorities and the poor by saddling students with crushing debt and giving them worthless degrees in return. This [...]
Washington Post: Everything ITT Tech students need to know now that the for-profit school has closed
The abrupt closure of ITT Technical Institutes on Tuesday left 35,000 students without degrees that many took on debt to complete. None of the options available to those students are simple and each comes with its [...]
New York Times: Downfall of ITT Technical Institutes Was a Long Time in the Making
Doors were bolted shut and parking lots emptied at ITT Technical Institutes around the country this week after the chain of for-profit colleges announced it was closing for good. At some campuses, though, this was [...]
Stars & Stripes: Troubled for-profit ITT Tech Institute closes its doors on thousands of student veterans
SAN ANTONIO — ITT Technical Institute said Tuesday it was immediately closing all campuses, more than 130 in all, throwing into doubt the future education of thousands of student veterans attending there. The troubled for-profit [...]
Stars and Stripes: Troubled for-profit ITT Tech Institute closes its doors on thousands of student veterans
SAN ANTONIO — ITT Technical Institute said Tuesday it was immediately closing all campuses, more than 130 in all, throwing into doubt the future education of thousands of student veterans attending there. The troubled for-profit [...]
Indianapolis Business Journal: What Did ITT In? Short-Sighted Thinking, Critic Says
When Rene Champagne retired as CEO of ITT Educational Services in 2007 after 22 years at the helm, the for-profit education company was riding high—as evidenced by its stock market value of $2.9 billion. Oh, [...]
PoliticoPro: Despite shaky finances, ITT Tech still eligible to recruit veterans
With its accreditation in danger, ITT Tech is no longer allowed to enroll new students with federal funds. But there's one exception: veterans. In a statement to POLITICO, the Veterans Affairs Department said today that the [...]
New York Times: Crackdown on For-Profit Colleges May Free Students and Trap Taxpayers
The Obama administration’s decision to bar ITT Educational Services, one of the nation’s largest operators of for-profit colleges, from using federal financial aid to enroll new students shuts off the cash spigot to the troubled [...]
Inside Higher Ed: U.S. Orders Ashford to Pay $137,695 for Aid Violations
An Education Department review of Ashford University's compliance with federal financial aid rules has resulted in a fine of $137,695 for a handful of violations, Bridgepoint Education, which owns Ashford, announced Tuesday. The review, initiated in [...]
Veteran and Servicemember Complaints about Misconduct and Illegal Practices at DeVry University
What follows is a public version of a “trends analysis” document we prepared detailing the types of harm observed by us in our free legal services to service members, veterans, and their dependents who brought [...]
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces Settlements Totaling $4.29 Million With For-Profit School And Its Former Chief Operating Officer
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Brian Hickey, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Education (“USDOE”), Office of Inspector General’s Northeast Region (“OIG”), announced [...]
Washington Post: Justice Department is Investigating Whether a For-Profit College Company Violated Federal Financial Aid Rules
The Justice Department has launched a probe into whether Bridegepoint Education, the owner of Ashford University and the University of the Rockies, is violating a law that prohibits for-profit colleges from getting more than 90 percent [...]
Washington Monthly: The Obama Administration Makes Its Biggest Move Against For-Profit Colleges
With Donald Trump and Brexit wiping out all other stories, here’s one you’re likely to have missed—and it’s actually good news! Yesterday, in a surprisingly bold move, federal regulators voted to recommend shutting down the nation’s largest [...]
Huffington Post: For A Day, Broke Students Win
In a world of mass shootings, Brexit, and a looming dramatic presidential election, the deliberations of the U.S. Department of Education’s National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity would hardly seem to matter. But, yesterday, it did.
Des Moines Register: Opinion: For-Profit Colleges Are a Bad Deal for Many
Like everything from cell phones to financial services, higher education is a heavily marketed product. Students and their families are customers. By now most Iowans should be cautious about buying what for-profit colleges are selling.
Inside Higher Ed: Fighting Access for For-Profits
Some for-profit institutions say they just wanted face-to-face access to their students on military bases like other traditional colleges that operate there. But veterans' groups and some Democratic senators are upset by a provision approved [...]
Center for American Progress: ACICS Must Go
Getting students to apply to and enroll in college can require a lot of creativity at an institution without any brand recognition. Even so, FastTrain College’s recruiting tactics took the idea of an exotic approach [...]
Education Dept Order: ITT Educational Services Inc. must increase its financial cushion to $123.7 million from $79.7 million
Dear Mr. Modany, On August 19, 2014, ITT Educational Services, Inc. (ITT) was cited in a letter by the Department of Education (Department) for late submission of its annual compliance audits and financial statements.
Inside Higher Ed: Weighing For-Profits’ Access to Military Bases
Nine states are now opposing an amendment the U.S. Congress is considering that would open up for-profit colleges' access to military bases. The amendment, proposed by West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, in the U.S. [...]
Washington Post: A Popular College Investment Promised Students a Career, But Didn’t Pay Off
Students who sought vocational certificates at for-profit colleges made an average of $900 less annually after attending the schools than they did before, according to a new study, leaving those who took out loans hard-pressed to pay them back.
BuzzFeed News: Inside the College That Abolished the F and Raked in the Cash
A college on the edge of Silicon Valley has turned itself into an upmarket visa mill, a BuzzFeed News investigation has found, deploying a system of fake grades and enabling thousands of foreign students to enter [...]
ProPolitico: Veterans groups slam amendment enabling easier access to military bases for-profit schools
Several veterans' groups want Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain and Sen. Joe Manchin to strip out an amendment from a defense policy bill that would enable for-profit colleges to gain easier access to military [...]
HuffPost Politics: Veterans Groups Oppose Manchin Amendment Giving For-Profit Colleges Unfettered Access to Military Bases
Just as America’s veterans organization are coming together to demand better government protection against deceptive and abusive practices by for-profit colleges, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) seems to want to move in the opposite direction, pushing [...]
The Hill: Groups Urge Senate to Oppose Defense Language on For-Profit Colleges
Military and veterans groups are urging the Senate to rid its defense policy bill of language they say would allow predatory for-profit colleges unfettered access to military installations. The 20 groups that have signed on [...]
New York Times: Veterans Groups Seek a Crackdown on Deceptive Colleges
WASHINGTON — Some of the nation’s largest veterans and military organizations sent letters last week to the Veterans Affairs Department asking it to crack down on colleges that prey on veterans by charging exorbitant fees for degrees that mostly fail to deliver promised skills and jobs.
Trends in Veteran and Servicemember Student Complaints about ITT Technical Institute
What follows is a public version of a “trends analysis” document Veterans Education Success prepared detailing the types of harm observed by us in our work providing free legal services to service members, veterans, and [...]
Newsweek: Opinion: Having Final Four at University of Phoenix is Madness
The madness is over. A NCAA basketball champion has been crowned for the 2016 season, and the Villanova men’s team is back on campus, their “One Shining Moment” now just a memory. And yet, the [...]
Buzzfeed News: Students Ripped Off By For-Profit Colleges Discover They Can’t Sue
Jacob was promised a lot by UEI College, a for-profit technical school in California. They told him he’d get hands-on training, a qualified faculty, state-of-the art technology, and preparation for the certification exam he’d need [...]
Consumerist: AGs Seek Better Protections For Servicemembers Deceived By For-Profit Colleges
Federal regulators must do more to protect servicemembers from unscrupulous colleges seeking to get their hands on their education benefits. That’s the message eight states want to get across to the secretary of Veteran Affairs [...]
Politico: GI Bill Funds Still Flow to Troubled For-Profit Colleges
The Obama administration's crackdown on for-profit colleges has escaped the notice of one federal agency with an already poor management record: The Veterans Affairs Department takes little or no action when these colleges are punished [...]
Republic Report: Students Testify: For-Profit Colleges Stole Our Futures
After six years of engagement on the issue of America’s predatory for-profit colleges, I feel I’ve seen it all — every kind of account of students deceived and abused by cynical college operators who have taken billions [...]
MarketWatch: Whistleblower Suit Against For-Profit College Charges Schemes Against Students
A Florida campus of for-profit college chain ITT Tech enrolled a blind student in a computer networking program that required students to identify cords by color and read codes, according to an accusation by a [...]
WAVY-TV: State Agency Says GI Bill Can’t Be Used at Local University
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va (WAVY) -- The Virginia Department of Veterans Services (DVS) says students can't use their GI Bill benefits at the Medical Careers Institute at ECPI University in Virginia Beach anymore. DVS said the withdrawal [...]
Des Moines Register: Opinion: Do More to Stop Predatory For-Profit Schools
Last year, federal officials sued ITT Educational Services, which has campuses in Clive and Cedar Rapids, and accused the for-profit school of predatory student lending. That case is still pending, but several months ago, the [...]
The Spokesman Review: Editorial: For-profit colleges a bad bargain
Federal and state governments are intensifying efforts to ensure that taxpayer dollars spent at for-profit colleges are benefiting students as much as the businesses. Students at these colleges have a poor track record for achieving [...]
UPI: For-profit college must pay $200M to forgive loans, pay settlement
WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- The for-profit college operator Education Management Corporation agreed to pay nearly $200 million to forgive student loans and resolve federal fraud claims in deals that have been lauded as "unprecedented" [...]
New York Times: For-Profit College Expected to Pay Millions
The nation’s second-largest for-profit college operator, Education Management Corporation, is expected to agree to pay nearly $90 million to settle a case accusing it of compensating employees based on how many students they enrolled, encouraging [...]
U.S. News & World Report: 3 Steps to Take Before Using GI Bill Benefits at For-Profit Colleges
Sarah Serrano, a veteran of the United States Marine Corps, got off to a rocky start when it came to pursuing a college degree. "Over the past 10 years, I have come and gone at University [...]
Media Matters: The Wall Street Journal Praises For-Profit Colleges That Prey On Veterans
Federal law allows for-profit colleges to access more federal funding by enrolling large numbers of military veterans, despite evidence that many of these schools do not prepare their students for the job market. In recent [...]
The Center for Investigative Reporting: Bill Would Limit For-Profit Colleges’ Access to Federal Funds
The White House today put its weight behind legislation seeking to rein in for-profit schools siphoning hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars annually by preying on veterans and military personnel eligible for the GI Bill [...]
Full Measure: Cash Cows: Military Colleges
November 1, 2015 — Full Measure brings you our investigation into how for-profit colleges allegedly preying on our military troops. Veterans with benefits and a desire to build a new life become targets, even given a [...]
Phoenix New Times: Veterans Student Group Demand That University of Phoenix Drop Cardinals Stadium Sponsorship
A student advocate group for veterans is insisting that the University of Phoenix drop sponsorship of its namesake stadium in Glendale and spend the millions of dollars on educating students. The outcry comes at a [...]
Los Angeles Times: For-Profit Colleges Are Using the GI Bill To Make Money Off Veterans
Many of the nation's largest for-profit college chains have seen enrollments plummet amid investigations into questionable job placement rates and deceptive marketing practices. One crucial source of revenue, however, has remained a constant: military veterans.
The Center for Investigative Reporting: Defense Department Now Reviewing University of Phoenix Recruiting
Pressure continues to mount on the Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs amid widening concern about the quality of education at for-profit colleges and unaccredited institutions, which together have siphoned billions of dollars in [...]
Fay Observer: Higher Education: Know the Pros and Cons of For-Profit Schools
Commercial schools have been around for centuries, providing training in fields such as accounting and construction that loftier educational institutions did not always offer. America’s first billionaire, John D. Rockefeller Sr., completed a course at [...]
PBS NewsHour: Are for-profit universities taking advantage of veterans?
Since 2009, the G.I. Bill has paid up to $21,000 a year of college tuition for those who served in Iraq or Afghanistan. Much of that money, though, goes to for-profit schools, which award degrees [...]
The Center for Investigative Reporting: GI Bill Pays for Unaccredited Sex, Bible and Massage Schools
Iraq War veteran David Rodriguez steps into a softly lit classroom at the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco, crosses his legs and sits on a pillow in front of an [...]
Military Times: For-Profit Colleges: A Consumer’s Guide
Commercial schools have been around for centuries, providing training in fields like accounting and construction that loftier educational institutions did not always offer. America's first billionaire, John D. Rockefeller Sr., completed a course at one [...]
Politico: Vets snared in for-profit college collapse want GI Bill money back
The collapse of for-profit Corinthian Colleges has been a calamity for Afghanistan and Iraq veterans who not only lost their chance at a college degree from the shuttered schools but also can’t get back tens [...]
Center for Investigative Reporting: University of Phoenix Sidesteps Obama Order on Recruiting Veterans
Hundreds of soldiers and their families spread lawn chairs and blankets across the grassy parade ground at Fort Campbell, which straddles the state line between Tennessee and Kentucky. They’re here to see Big Smo, the [...]
Tampa Bay Times: Helping Students Left Behind by For-Profit Colleges
Through no fault of their own, tens of thousands of students were left high and dry — and broke — when the for-profit Corinthian Colleges closed and abandoned them. So U.S. Education Department officials are [...]
Stars and Stripes: Congress presses VA to identify high-risk colleges
WASHINGTON — Could tweaking the Department of Veterans Affairs website have saved some veterans from suffering through the collapse of Corinthian Colleges? A group of congressional Democrats think so and on Monday asked the VA [...]
Pittsburgh Business Times: EDMC, For-Profits Could Lose Major Funding Source Under Obama’s 2016 Budget Proposal
A proposal in President Barack Obama's 2016 budget that would close a loophole in G.I. Bill funding could spell trouble for for-profit education providers if approved by Congress.
The Corinthian Sale: Lessons Learned & Dealing With Future Challenges
The February 2015 sale of about half of Corinthian campuses to Zenith Education Group—a brand-new subsidiary of the student loan guaranty agency and debt collector ECMC—provides an opportunity to reflect on lessons learned and prepare [...]
U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions: Is the New GI Bill Working? For-Profit Colleges Increasing Veteran Enrollment and Federal Funds (2014)
Almost three years ago the HELP Committee determined that eight of the top 10 recipients of veterans’ educational benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits were large, publicly traded companies that operate for-profit colleges. A [...]
PBS NewsHour: Is the GI Bill benefiting for-profit colleges instead of helping veterans?
Veterans can receive the full cost of a college education under the GI Bill, but recently funds from the bill have flowed mostly to for-profit schools, even though veterans’ prospects are often not appreciably better [...]
NYT: Corinthian College Shut Down by Education Department. Had claimed to be Pentagon-approved
Facing heavy losses and a crackdown by government agencies, Corinthian Colleges, one of the largest for-profit operators of trade schools and colleges, will largely cease operating under an agreement with the federal Education Department.
Inside Higher Ed: Backed Into A Corner
As the Obama administration weighs public comment on its second proposal to more tightly regulate for-profit colleges, the industry is once again fighting in earnest to fend off the regulations.
U.S. News & World Report: Veterans Benefit From the ‘Power of the Pen’
CRITICS DERIDED AS “small stuff” President Obama’s announcement in his State of the Union address that he would focus less time on Congress (given its current ineffectiveness) and more time on his executive power, wielding the [...]
Why For-Profit Schools are Targeting Veterans Education Benefits
Why For-Profit Schools are Targeting Veterans Education Benefits “We’ve got to make sure you’ve got every tool you need to make an informed decision when it comes to picking a school…. Right now, it’s not [...]
U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions: For Profit Higher Education: The Failure to Safeguard the Federal Investment and Ensure Student Success
Between June 2010 and July 2012, Senate HELP Committee Chairman Tom Harkin conducted an in-depth oversight investigation focusing exclusively on the for-profit sector of higher education. Theinvestigation was undertaken to better understand the enormous growth [...]
U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions: PowerPoint Slides on GI Bill & For-Profit Colleges (2012)
What Are Taxpayers and Veterans Getting For Their Money? Taxpayers Spend More than Twice as Much to Train Veterans at ForProfit Colleges
U.S. Education Department Data on For-Profit Colleges’ Violation of 90/10 Law
Explore the internal Department of Education analysis obtained by The Center for Investigative Reporting that shows 133 for-profit colleges are so dependent on taxpayer money that they would be violating a law designed to prevent [...]
U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions: Executive Summary: For Profit Higher Education: The Failure to Safeguard the Federal Investment and Ensure Student Success (2012)
A 2-year investigation by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions demonstrated that Federal taxpayers are investing billions of dollars a year, $32 billion in the mostrecent year, in companies that operate for-profit [...]
U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions: Charts on Defense Department & For-Profit Colleges (2012)
For‐Profit Colleges Collect Half of All Department of Defense Tuition Assistance Benefits
David Deming, Claudia Goldin & Lawrence Katz, The For-Profit Post-Secondary School Sector: Nimble Critters or Agile Predators? American Economic Association Journal of Economic Perspectives
Private for-profit institutions have become an increasingly visible part of the U.S. higher education sector. Within that sector, they are today the most diverse institutions by program and size, have been the fastest growing, have [...]
U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions: Department of Defense Data Reveals For-Profit Colleges Are Taking in the Bulk of Military Education Benefits (2012)
New information provided by the Department of Defense (DOD) and analyzed by the majority staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) shows that for-profit colleges are receiving one of [...]
U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions: Recruiting Training Manuals from Top for-Profit Colleges (2012)
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions conducted an investigation into predatory behavior at the nation's largest for-profit schools, who receive hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer dollars and veterans benefits, and [...]
New York Times: For-Profit Colleges, Vulnerable G.I.’s
MILITARY personnel and their families are finding themselves under siege from for-profit colleges. A number of these schools focus on members of the armed forces with aggressive and often misleading marketing, and then provide little [...]
New York Times: Education is the Last Thing on Their Minds
The for-profit education industry complained of excessive regulation last fall when the Obama administration issued new rules intended to curb abuses at profit-making colleges and trade schools. But lawsuits brought by whistle-blowers with firsthand knowledge [...]
U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions: Benefitting Whom? For-Profit Education Companies and the Growth of Military Educational Benefits (2011)
Serious questions have emerged about the share of the military educational benefit pool going to for- profit schools with questionable outcomes. Congress may have unintentionally subjected this new generation of veterans to the worst excesses [...]
New York Times: Preying on Veterans
The for-profit education industry has been pushing back hard against new Education Department rules that will make it easier to rein in predatory schools that strip students of financial aid, saddle them with crushing debt [...]
New York Times: Let the Students Profit
The Obama administration has proposed tough and much-needed regulations for lucrative for-profit colleges. Industry is predictably pushing back hard, with legions of high-priced lobbyists and organized letter-writing campaigns. The administration must hold its ground.
U.S. Government Accountability Office: For-Profit Colleges: Undercover Testing Finds Colleges Encouraged Fraud and Engaged in Deceptive Marketing Practices
Enrollment in for-profit colleges has grown from about 365,000 students to almost 1.8 million in the last several years. These colleges offer degrees and certifications in programs ranging from business administration to cosmetology. In 2009, [...]
New York Times: Who Profits? Who Learns?
Enrollment at for-profit colleges and trade schools has tripled in the last decade to about 1.8 million, or nearly 10 percent of the nation’s higher education students. These schools, partly because they serve poorer students [...]