UPDATE: ITT Educational Services announced on Tuesday, Sept. 6 that it would cease operations, closing all 130 of its campuses immediately. Click here to read the Dept. of Education’s updated list of options for ITT students [More]
department of education
ITT Tech Banned From Enrolling New Students Using Federal Financial Aid
By 8.25.16
And just like that the foundation of ITT Education Services is beginning to crumble. Today, the Department of Education took a series of actions that bans the company behind the for-profit chain of ITT Technical Institutes from enrolling new students using federal financial aid funds. [More]
Feds: For-Profit College Chain Can’t Switch To Non-Profit To Avoid Accountability
By 8.11.16
The Department of Education has denied non-profit status to a chain of for-profit career colleges, accusing the schools’ operators of trying to avoid accountability.
[More]
New Rules Aim To Regulate Online College Programs
By 7.25.16
Colleges offering distance education, such as online courses, must receive authorization from each state where it has students in order to receive federal financial aid, according to recently released rules that aim to better regulate the online education industry and ensure students understand what protections they have when attending a college in another state. [More]
New Guidelines Aim To Improve Customer Service, Enhance Protections On Federal Student Loans
By 7.20.16
The fact that two-thirds of college-bound students who take out loans to finance their higher education have little to no idea what they’re agreeing to, doesn’t mean these borrowers shouldn’t receive adequate protection from unscrupulous loan servicing companies. New guidelines from a pair of federal agencies are aimed at ensuring student loan borrowers get the service and protection they deserve. [More]
For-Profit Educator Bridegepoint Education Under Investigation Over Federal Funding
By 7.13.16
Bridgepoint Education, the operator of for-profit colleges Ashford University and the University of the Rockies, added its name to the long list of higher education companies to find themselves on the receiving end of a federal investigation, as the Department of Justice has opened a probe into the organization’s federal student aid funding. [More]
Advisory Panel Votes To Revoke Troubled College Accreditor’s Recognition
By 6.24.16
A week after staff with the Department of Education recommended the termination of federal recognition for the accrediting body that ignored red flags at failed for-profit educator Corinthian Colleges and allowed billions in federal aid to go to schools under investigation, the panel on the receiving end of that recommendation voted to sever ties with Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools. [More]
Federal Student Loan Customer Service In Need Of “Significant” Improvements
By 6.16.16
Last year, the Department of Education issued more than $96 billion in federal student loans to more than 9.1 million college students. Someday in the future these borrowers will begin repaying these debts, but a new report finds that limitations and a disconnect between the federal government and its contracted loan servicers can make this a daunting and sometimes costly task. [More]
Education Department Recommends Troubled College Accreditor’s Recognition Be Revoked
By 6.15.16
After weeks of urging from lawmakers, consumer advocates, and others, staff with the Department of Education recommended the termination of federal recognition for the accrediting body that ignored red flags at failed for-profit educator Corinthian Colleges and allowed billions in federal aid to go to schools under investigation. [More]
Proposed Rule Stops Colleges From Stripping Students Of Their Right To Sue
By 6.13.16
A recent study found that almost all of the nation’s largest for-profit college chains have enrollment agreements that block students from suing the school and prevent them from joining in class actions against these colleges. Following the 2015 bankruptcy and collapse of mega-chain Corinthian Colleges Inc., the sagging numbers at University of Phoenix, last week’s death knell for Brown Mackie College, and pending investigations and lawsuits against ITT and others, the Department of Education has decided that maybe these schools — which reap billions in federal aid each year — should probably have to be held accountable in a court of law when they screw students over. [More]
Elizabeth Warren Says Accreditor Of For-Profit Colleges Has “Dismal Record Of Failure”
By 6.10.16
Only days after a report found that an organization responsible for accrediting a number of for-profit colleges had engaged in a “pattern” of providing approval to schools with bad track records, resulting in these colleges receiving nearly $6 billion in federal funds, Sen. Elizabeth Warren is joining the chorus of voices calling on the Department of Education to take action. [More]
Is ITT Tech Headed For A Collapse? School Required To Set Aside Funds Just In Case
By 6.7.16
Trouble continues to mount for ITT Educational Services. The for-profit college operator behind the ITT Technical Institute chain, which is already under investigation by federal and state agencies for a slew of abusive and misleading practices, must now have enough money on hand just in case it’s forced to close its doors. [More]
Report: Accreditor Allowed $5.7B In Federal Funds To Go To Schools Under Investigation
By 6.7.16
Less than a week after California’s Attorney General urged the Department of Education to revoke federal recognition of Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) following its continued approval of for-profit education chain Corinthian Colleges Inc. up until the day the now defunct schools closed their doors, a new report reveals ACICS’s “pattern” of providing approval to schools with bad track records, resulting in the funneling of more than $6 billion in federal funds to those schools. [More]
Should Agency That Provided Accreditation To Corinthian Colleges Be Held Accountable In School’s Failure?
By 6.2.16
Up until the day it collapsed in 2015, for-profit education chain Corinthian Colleges Inc. was accredited by Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS), one of the nation’s largest federally recognized accrediting bodies. With taxpayers potentially on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars in forgiven student loans, the California Attorney General is calling on the Department of Education to revoke federal recognition of ACICS. [More]
Report: For-Profit College Students Earn Less After Graduation Than They Did Before
By 5.31.16
For-profit college chains often market themselves to non-traditional students — single parents, lower income individuals, military servicemembers — as a viable path to better job prospects and more money. However, a new report suggests that enrolling in of these sometimes costly schools may not help students reach their goals. [More]
Defunct Beauty School Settles Whistleblower Suit Accusing It Of Falsifying Records
By 5.5.16
Two months after abruptly closing its doors as a result of losing access to federal student financial aid, the for-profit Marinello Schools of Beauty has settled a whistleblower case that accused the school of engaging in various schemes to defraud the government of federal financial aid dollars. [More]
Feds Will Notify Disabled Borrowers Eligible For Student Loan Discharge
By 4.13.16
Under the law, borrowers who are permanently disabled are eligible to have their federal student loans discharged. While the government has taken steps in the past to make the process more streamlined for consumers, the Department of Education will now proactively seek out eligible borrowers. [More]
Former Corinthian College Students To Have Easier Time Getting Student Loan Discharges
By 3.25.16
For nearly a year, advocates and lawmakers have shared their dissatisfaction with the Department of Education’s pace and complicated process on discharging the student loan debt for students of now-defunct for-profit chain Corinthian Colleges. Today, the Department is expected to clear a path for debt relief for these students after determining that state investigations into the schools found enough proof that the company widely misled students about their futures if they attended the schools. [More]
