If you have read recently that the U.S. Department of Education cracked down on predatory for-profit colleges, don’t believe it.
Read this story in today’s New York Times.
When the Obama administration agreed to erase the federal loan debt of some former students at Corinthian Colleges, a for-profit school that filed for bankruptcy in the face of charges of widespread fraud, education officials promised to “protect students from abusive colleges and safeguard the interests of taxpayers.”
But the Education Department, despite a crackdown against what it calls “bad actors,” continues to hand over tens of millions of dollars every month to other for-profit schools that have been accused of predatory behavior, substandard practices or illegal activity by its own officials or state attorneys general across the country.
Consider the Education Management Corporation, which runs 110 schools in the United States for chefs, artists and other trades. It has been investigated or sued in recent years by prosecutors in at least 12 states. The Justice Department has accused the company of illegally using incentives to pay its recruiters. And last year, investors filed a class-action lawsuit, contending that the company engaged in deceptive enrollment practices and manipulated federal student loan and grant programs.
Education Management nonetheless received more than $1.25 billion in federal money over the last school year.
The career training and for-profit college industry has been accused in recent years of preying on the poor, veterans and minorities by charging exorbitant fees for degrees that mostly fail to deliver promised skills and jobs.
Despite stepped-up scrutiny, hundreds of schools that have failed regulatory standards or been accused of violating legal statutes are still hauling in billions of dollars of government funds. They include tiny beauty schools with staggering loan default rates and online law schools with dismal graduation records and no bar association accreditation. Without government funds, which account for the overwhelming bulk of revenue, few of these institutions could attract students or stay in business.
The for-profit higher education industry hired the best lobbyists from both parties, and this is the result. Government-funded fraud against students goes on. Business as usual.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Please don’t forget that some of these “for profit” colleges are converting to “non-profit” to avoid those pesky “for profit” limitations that the government is trying to impose… http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/10/the-covert-for-profit/409477/
LikeLike
OMG! All I can do is: SHAKE MY HEAD. This is more than horrid; YES, indeed, this is FRAUD. How can this happen and with such meanness too. Is this what education has been REDUCED to in this country? Shameful, shameful.
This is JUST BUSINESS … DISGUSTING.
LikeLike
So is this more of the Obama plan to adhere to free market principles with all of America’s education offerings?
BTW…my article on this issue which was published by Chalk Face last year, has been taken down by the new publisher, as have all my articles there. What is this all about? Is this new guy an arm of the Obama administration?
Doing away with archives is tantamount to doing away with history.
LikeLike
The federal corruption is staggering and the stories of poor students hobbled by debt is heartbreaking. Privatizers in any ed sector consistently target minority and low income students.
LikeLike
And the military –
The corporate fraudsters and the US Department of Corporate Education will not stop until every citizen is monetized.
How For-Profit Colleges Target Military Veterans (and Your Tax Dollars)
http://time.com/money/3573216/veterans-college-for-profit/
LikeLike
What the heehaw?
LikeLike
A lot of powerful and wealthy people make money off predatory for-profit colleges. It’s a long list and it includes both Republicans and Democrats:
” Among the army of lobbyists and consultants retained by the industry were Republicans like former Senate majority leader Trent Lott of Mississippi and Sally Stroup, a top education official in the Bush administration. But the industry focused its hiring on prominent Democrats, especially former members of Congress and government officials who had left public service for more lucrative opportunities in lobbying and consulting, like former Senator John Breaux (La.), former congressmen Richard Gephardt (Mo.), Toby Moffett (Conn.) and Al Wynn (Md.); Penny Lee, a former aide to Senate majority leader Harry Reid (Nev.); and former Clinton White House lawyer Lanny Davis.
Former Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell (D) was among the leaders, along with former New Jersey governor Tom Kean (R), former MacArthur Foundation president Jonathan Fanton, and Harvard professor Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot,
For 2012, at the APSCU convention in Las Vegas, the keynote speakers were former President George W. Bush and K-12 school reformer Michelle Rhee.”
So when you see any of these folks on tv just remember- they support predatory colleges that (mostly) harm low income young people and veterans.
http://www.thenation.com/article/perfect-lobby-how-one-industry-captured-washington-dc/
LikeLike
Thanks Chiara for this info. Phoenix U. is getting some needed investigation, but in California, they have doubled down on their ads in all media, costing them a fortune. And the new ads are so creative and charming…and false.
LikeLike
We continue and must continue to shine the bright spot lights on these fraudsters, but America looks away. Why? Are we such a crooked society that nothing surprises us at this point? Do we just expect exploitation, theft, fraud, financial bubbles, and shysters at every turn?
It appears to me that dedicated and ethical people ONLY stand in the way of these shady shysters – and they know they have the upper hand, the $Billions.
More to come!
Disgusting and discouraging!
Who are we, the USA, to tell other countries how to run their show? Our dirty linens flap in the breeze so violently in front of our glass houses, we should smell our own stink from miles away. We have the nerve to constantly yell about being 1st in the World? I sense that other countries see our hippocracy, while we are on to the next scheme, deal and exploitation of our youngest and oldest people.
Shame on us!
LikeLike
Well said.
LikeLike
cx: hypocrisy
I’m sorry. All I could see was a two-faced hippo. (And besides, I still have to look up the word to figure out how to spell it. So I did!) 🙂
LikeLike
Another outrage. How many will it take before “they” are stopped?
LikeLike
This is a problem not only for the questionable schools, but also for students who pursue required graduate level classes. It is almost impossible to manage school loans, when living on the salary of a mental health counselor, teacher, or social worker. The burden is so great for many young adults, and this problem saddens me – affects me on a very personal level. It seems like the professions, who help people the most, are paid the least. Where are our priorities in society?
LikeLike
Ah ha! Societal priorities! My wife and I just discussed this the other day. She and I are working our butts off and, due to our income, have to pay about $1700.00 in student loans every month. We feel so robbed (but know it will work out, because our degrees give us opportunity)! When I was a teacher, making less than half of my current income, $1500.00 was our monthly student loan bill. I had to defer my loans! I simply couldn’t afford it. That’s about what I made each month as a teacher! It’s a crime, and it’s causing people who actually want to teach to pursue other professions. And now I don’t qualify for teacher loan forgiveness haha.
I guess what affected me the most was the fact I had two degrees and made that little teaching. I had friends who didn’t pursue college and went to work on-the-line for auto. Industry who made double or more what I was bringing in every month. No disrespect to my friends, but it was very frustrating – I felt robbed (and even worse due to the current state of affairs in education).
LikeLike
Why are only for profit schools held to graduation and default rates? Hundreds of Community Colleges that pay ridiculous salaries, receive billions of grants with no oversight almost completely funded by our tax dollars, which is why the tuition is low enough for many to cover tuition with just grants (tax payers again). Yet these schools still have default rates of over 25% and have graduation rates under 20%.. Do the math, the subpar education delivered at community colleges are also bleeding taxpayers. with Obama’s blessings. For profit schools pay taxes to the community. Do some suck, yep.But so do many non profit. As a society it’s time we hold ALL schools accountable, and judge them on a level playing field.
LikeLike
I guess I’m confused what you mean by “level playing field” and holding schools accountable.
There are many differences amongst our postsecondary schools. We have to look at the composition of students enrolled in those schools. Things aren’t as clear-cut by judging on graduation rates. Perhaps working class folks are attending a local community college and then transfer to a state university. They won’t finish the bachelor’s degree in 4 years because of other obligations (like work, taking care of family, etc.) which decreases those schools’ scores as scoring is partly based on graduation rates. But then we see this as an issue too, as there’s a push to graduate students due to funds tied to these rates. The quality of the education suffers as a result due to excessive curving, watering down of the curriculum, and lowering degree/certification requirements. I agree with you here, in that there should not be subpar quality, but quality and graduation rates aren’t necessarily mutually inclusive.
Take a look at a university that attracts “top students”. These students are typically from educated families, families with money and university ties, supoorts, etc. who can live on campus and study to finish their degree in four years. Composition of students.
These are just two examples. I guess the point is that “level playing field” in confusing to me. Should graduation rates be high? Sure, but there’s much more to the story. If every university had a high graduation rate, I would be concerned with educational quality. Should universities have supports to help students graduate while keeping quality high? Yes – and just like our secondary schools, resources should be different in different universities due to student composition. What should be “level” is the status of the degrees from our institutions. They should all be high quality degrees.
LikeLike