Today Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) introduced a bill that would bar the Department of Education from sending federal student grants and loans to for-profit colleges. I support this legislation, at the very least for its value as a wake up call to a bad-behaving industry and its paid cheerleaders in
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While a federal judge pondered throwing the book at Betsy DeVos for abusing ex-students of a shuttered predatory for-profit college chain, DeVos’s Department of Education seemed to finally take a small step to protect students and taxpayers from the possible collapse of another of these institutions. Monday morning in federal court in San Francisco, U.S.
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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is stonewalling, using contrived excuses to delay House investigators from questioning State Department officials who have information relevant to the Trump impeachment inquiry. He’s also been concealing his own involvement: It emerged last night that Pompeo actually listened live to the fated call between Donald Trump and Ukraine president Volodymyr
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One more thought on this week’s Capitol Forum report on abuses at Career Education Corp. under CEO Todd Nelson, last week’s FTC action against CEC, and treatment of for-profit colleges under Donald Trump and his education secretary, Betsy DeVos. Diane Auer Jones, the former CEC senior executive who is now DeVos’s top higher education aide,
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Former congressman Vin Weber (R-MN) has quit his lobbying job at Mercury Public Affairs, saying the ongoing Ukraine influence-peddling probe, which has been examining the lobby work Weber did for Ukrainian interests, “has become a distraction” and he will “focus my time and energy on protecting my reputation.” That reputation, though, includes Weber’s long tenure
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A Colorado state judge says he needs more time to rule in a fraud case that Colorado’s attorney general took to trial in late 2017 against the CollegeAmerica chain of career colleges. The case was filed by then-Colorado attorney general John Suthers and pursued by his successor, Cynthia Coffman, both Republicans. CollegeAmerica called as its
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We reported last month on the for-profit college operation Career Education Corporation’s (CEC) announcement it had reached a settlement with Federal Trade Commission staff of an investigation into deceptive practices by the company. Now the FTC has announced that it has approved that settlement.  Although the commission staff deserves credit for going after bad actor
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For-profit education provider Zovio recently announced it has partnered with Delta Air Lines in a deal that “allows eligible Delta employees to pursue associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Ashford University at a discounted rate.”  Sounds generous. Except that Ashford University, which is tied to Zovio, has a long record of deceiving, overcharging, and abusing
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