The $2 trillion appropriated by Congress as coronavirus relief funds will benefit for-profit colleges with poor records, according to Marketwatch. They are likely to collect $1 billion. DeVos has been an investor in for-profit colleges, so don’t expect her to care. Democratic Senators have complained to DeVos but got no response this far.,
Dozens of for-profit colleges that are among those most likely to benefit from stimulus funding face thousands of claims from students demanding their money back because they say they were defrauded, according to analysis prepared for MarketWatch.
Some of the schools eligible for bailout funds also face federal scrutiny for mismanaged funds, while others have been dubbed “failed” under a federal standard requiring them to provide an education adequate for repaying loans, the analysis shows. Some schools eligible for bailout funds have settled lawsuits with the U.S. Justice Department following allegations of fraud and misuse of federal student aid…
The analysis found that of the top estimated 100 for-profit schools eligible for coronavirus crisis subsidies, 79 had students who demanded their loans be forgiven under a federal program meant to provide relief to students who alleged they had been defrauded. From these top 100 for-profit schools, 12,000 students had filed federal complaints alleging they were victims of fraud. Twenty-three of the top 100 for-profit schools most likely to receive funding were previously characterized by federal regulators as “failed” under a requirement that students go on to find jobs good enough to repay loans. DeVos last year rescinded the requirement that schools meet this standard as a condition for benefiting from federal subsidies.
Twelve of the top 100 for-profit schools eligible for stimulus funds also faced some form of legal action as of 2017 for alleged fraud involving recruitment and misuse of federal student aid programs, according to the analysis. Thirteen, meanwhile, were under “heightened cash monitoring,” an extra level of scrutiny under U.S. Department of Education rules meant to serve as a caution to students that can indicate problems with finances or accreditation.
“Colleges like these with a predatory history and thousands of prior students who are still awaiting compensation for deceptive practices should not be getting a federal bailout,” said Bob Shireman, deputy undersecretary of education under President Obama who now oversees higher education programs at The Century Foundation, a liberal think tank.
As the rushed effort to dispense $2 trillion in stimulus funds unfolds, experts are questioning how the government more broadly will guard against fraud, waste and abuse, and whether the public can trust whether tax dollars will be used to achieve the program’s goals.
Expect waste, fraud, and abuse, and a big payday for some of the worst actors in higher education, as well as a payday for the charter industry, which lobbied to be included in the fund for struggling small businesses, although they have not lost a dime.
Expect waste, fraud, and abuse, and a big payday for some of the worst actors in higher education, as well as a payday for the charter industry, which lobbied to be included in the fund for struggling small businesses, although they have not lost a dime.
Yes and notice also that Trump’s firing of Inspector Generals and arrogant belief that he, and he alone, will have oversight of these programs means that Congress has just given Trump another giant slush fund for his friends (always good people) and supporters (Republican supporting him).
that exact term, slush fund, the harshest reality — over and over we watch massive, overwhelming sums being “allocated” by the legislature and then everyone looks the other way, having no control over the opportunists who then make their living off of those funds
I’m concerned the Trump Administration’s apprenticeship program will turn out like for-profit colleges did for young people- a rip off:
https://www.apprenticeship.gov/become-apprentice
These aren’t real apprenticeships. They’re federal subsidies to for-profit companies. They’re not regulated or vetted in any way and they’re getting hundreds of millions in federal funding.
It’s going to be a disaster for the apprentices. They’ll invest years in this and end up with a low wage job. I hope public schools don’t send students into these without honest and trustworthy adult guidance. These sharks are going to eat 17 year olds.
Does the US Congress know they poured hundreds of millions in public funds into this cheap junk? What a colossal waste.
Appoint responsible and honest independent oversight of this program right now or kiss that money goodbye.
In ten years we’ll have thousands of students who thought they were getting an apprenticeship but instead got a pile of crap. And you’re all paying for it.
Every program launched by the Trump ED was designed by Walton profiteers.
I know public schools are short on guidance counselors but since the federal government no longer regulates anything, can we at least get a couple of responsible adults who will steer students away from this garbage?
I mean, really. They’re 17 years old. Is it really fair to turn them over to these sharks and conmen with no assistance from adults?
Warn them. Beg them not to sign their lives away to pad the pockets of these crooks. They will regret it. They target the MOST vulnerable students and 17 year olds are naive! They’re easy to rob! Make it harder to rob them.
The for-profit colleges also target military veterans, war widows, poor people and others who think they can get a quick degree online. But end up with a worthless degree or no degree but lots of debt.
Neoliberal policies have fed the corporate beast leading to policies enabling predatory capitalism. It is the reason why so many public school systems are fighting for their lives. Privatization promotes corporate interests over those of regular citizens. Socialism for corporations is acceptable, but for people it will lead to “moral decay.” Many for-profit colleges and charter schools are bad actors. We live in an oligarchy where the corporations draft public policies that will benefit them, not regular people.
I just got an email alert stating that Trump intends to cut $1 trillion from Medicare, Social Security and the ACA, in the middle of pandemic. This is what we can expect from our corrupt government in a time of crisis.
We can’t fight this anymore. It’s going to take a complete collapse so that a “redo” can be attempted. I’m a Dem, but the last POTUS that did the best for the American public was Bush 1…..truly a gentleman and thoughtful human being even if he did have flaws (don’t we all?) and was a Republican. The Neoliberal policies of Clinton opened the Pandora’s Box of evils upon us all and they have snowballed ever since. This is not going to end well for most people….even the wealthy.
One job I worked as I was bombing out of my PhD candidacy in the late nineties was consolidating student loans for a big midwestern loan servicer. I had access to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) in order to do my job. That database contains the whole story on students’ borrowing, including whether or not they earned a degree at the institution they took loans to “attend.” I was shocked, again and again, at the stunning amount of dept–multiple tens of thousands of dollars–that students incurred at these institutions, but never earned a degree. I recall one student who owed $38K but had only finished five semesters of work toward a B.S. (Which shows you, not to put too fine point on it, how much BS these places generate.)
These “schools” therefore look to me like something akin to a loansharking or extortion operation, and little more. That my tax dollars would go to them is galling indeed….
“For-Profit Colleges”
Junk degrees
And crushing debts
About as sleaz
Zee as it gets
Phoenix flies
And turns to ash
But never dies
In hunt for cash
Yeah! Perfect SomeDam, especially the “Sleaz” “Zee” line break.
posted at OEN. https://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/For-Profit-Colleges-Under-in-General_News-Fraud-200409-472.html
And the malignant Walton-ALEC-Gates corruption virus being peddled by the likes of DeVos and Trump is eating America from the inside out and keeps spreading with no end in sight.