When the new gainful employment rules take effect later this year, for-profit educators would need to demonstrate that their programs are actually training graduates to earn a living. But a pending piece of legislation seeks to give these schools a free pass to billions of dollars in federal student aid.
for-profit colleges
Senators Want To Close Federal Funding Loophole Exploited By For-Profit Colleges
By 4.23.15
Each year for-profit colleges receive billions of dollars in Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits by exploiting a loophole in the rules that govern how these institutions collect federal funds. Once again, a group of senators has set out to change the way in which these schools count student aid, this time by urging the Department of Education to take an aggressive stand. [More]
Corinthian Colleges Fined $30M Over Falsified Job Placement Rates At Heald College
By 4.15.15
The Department of Education continued its crackdown on deceptive for-profit college practices Tuesday by levying a $30 million fine against embattled Corinthian Colleges Inc. – operator of Everest University, Heald College and WyoTech – over the use of misstated and inaccurate job placement rates to recruit students. [More]
Dept. Of Education Reveals Names Of 550 Colleges — Mostly For-Profits — Under Federal Scrutiny
By 4.7.15
For months now, Congress has debated the merits of creating an oversight committee tasked with improving coordination in federal and state oversight of the for-profit college industry. If that group ever comes to fruition, it appears they would likely have their work cut out for them, as the Department of Education recently released its previously secret list of colleges under scrutiny for financial reasons, half of which are for-profit schools. [More]
New York Consumer Agency Opens Investigation Into Four For-Profit Colleges
By 4.3.15
Student dropouts, loans default rates and recruiting tactics have been the cornerstone of many federal and state investigations into for-profit colleges. It appears to be much of the same for four such schools facing probes by the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs. [More]
For-Profit College Enrollment Is Down Following Scandals & School Failures
By 3.31.15
With increasing scrutiny from lawmakers, regulators, consumer advocates and the general public, the past five years have been hard on a for-profit college industry that had enjoyed years of happily feeding at the federal student aid trough. There have been changes to schools’ often excessive advertising budgets, damning reports of abuse, and soon-to-be-implemented rules requiring for-profit programs to demonstrate their effectiveness. The fractures in a business model that has attracted some of the biggest names in investment have become more evident, especially when comparing previously robust enrollment numbers with the most recent figures. [More]
Report: Taking For-Profit Colleges Nonprofit Can Generate Hefty Profits For Owners
By 3.3.15
Earlier this year Education Credit Management Corporation bought 56 campuses from embattled for-profit chain Corinthian Colleges Inc. and took the schools to the nonprofit sector. While that conversion was initiated because of the ongoing collapse and financial problems facing CCI, other college chains have dropped the for-profit status seemingly to pick up hefty profits. [More]
Corinthian College’s Canadian Subsidiary Files For Bankruptcy A Week After Campuses Shut Down
By 2.24.15
Less than a week after the Ontario Education Ministry closed 14 Everest College campuses in the province, the Canadian subsidiary of for-profit college operator Corinthian Colleges Inc. announced it had filed for bankruptcy. [More]
California Halts Grants For Students At Corinthian’s Heald College Campuses
By 2.17.15
Nearly 4,500 students at California campuses of the for-profit Heald College chain — operated by the beleaguered Corinthian Colleges, Inc. — have been notified they won’t be receiving state grants to help finance their education because school administrators failed to provide financial statements to state regulators.
[More]
Corinthian Colleges Inc. Expected To Be Delisted From Nasdaq Tuesday
By 2.13.15
Embattled for-profit college operator Corinthian Colleges Inc. — the company behind the Everest, WyoTech, and Heald College chains — is set to be delisted from the Nasdaq stock exchange Tuesday after it failed to meet a deadline to file quarterly earnings reports.
Should For-Profit Colleges Be Allowed To Spend Taxpayers’ Money To Put Their Names On NFL Stadiums?
By 2.5.15
This past Sunday — and for the second time in seven years — the Super Bowl was played at a stadium carrying the University of Phoenix name. The for-profit online school paid more than $150 million to slap its brand on the stadium, with much of that money coming from taxpayers. Some groups say that for-profit schools should not be allowed to make such splashy marketing investments at a time when there are so many questions about the quality of education provided by for-profit institutions. [More]
Senators Introduce Bill Mandating Formation Of For-Profit College Oversight Committee
By 2.5.15
Back in October, the Department of Education finalized a new rule: career colleges — those schools that offer specialized training programs for certain occpuations — would have to do a better job actually preparing students for gainful emplotment, or they’d lose access to federal student aid. As part of those standards, the DoE rule included the creation of an oversight group. Today, two senators introduced legislation to ensure the task force is providing useful information to policymakers, parents and students.
White House Proposes Free Community College For Dedicated Students
By 1.8.15
The cost of a college education has outpaced inflation for the last few decades, making school less affordable for millions of Americans and driving student loan debt past the $1 trillion mark. And in the last decade, the for-profit education industry has taken in many billions of dollars in federal student aid for schools with high dropout rates. Today, President Obama offered a suggestion: Free community college educations for those willing to stick to it. [More]
2014: By The Numbers
By 12.31.14
2014 was a record-setting year in an enormous variety of ways, both good and bad. As we wrap up and head into 2015, here’s a look at what happened, and what we learned, in the 2014 that was. [More]
Senators Ask Dept. Of Education To Discharge Student Loans For Everest, WyoTech, Heald Students
By 12.10.14
While Corinthian Colleges — the failing for-profit educator behind schools like Everest University, WyoTech, and Heald College — sorts out new owners for most of its properties, several thousand of the schools’ students are left in limbo, unsure of who is responsible for their education — and unsure if that pricey education is worth the huge loans they’ve taken out to pay for it. Yesterday, a group of a dozen U.S. Senators asked the Dept. of Education to consider giving these students a way out of their federal student loans. [More]
For-Profit College Hired Exotic Dancers As Admissions Reps
By 12.5.14
The operators of a now-defunct for-profit college in Florida allegedly told its admissions directors to do whatever it took to sell the school to potential students. Among the tactics used by the school is one straight out of a wacky, low-budget, late-night college movie you might see on Cinemax. [More]
Why You Shouldn’t Get A Reverse Mortgage Just Because Fred Thompson Tells You To
By 11.13.14
Turn on the TV and you’re just about guaranteed to come face-to-face with a celebrity or public figure selling a product or service. While those spokespeople may carry an air of respect and trust with consumers, what happens when the product they so happily lent their voice to turns out to have devastating affects on the consumer? Not much really, but it might be time for that to change. [More]
For-Profit Online University Lets You Spend ThoughtCoins On Way To Job As Digital Gardener
By 11.7.14
Have you been thinking about enrolling in a for-profit online college that saddles you with thousands of dollars of debt and no job to show for it? Then get ready to spend your ThoughtCoins and ClassPoints at a school that will still take all your money but lets you skip the classwork and guarantees you a job when you graduate. [More]
