The Donald J. Trump administration, which claims its DOGE-driven reshaping of the federal government is aimed at cutting waste, fraud, and abuse, quietly cancelled a $37 million fine that the Department of Education, under the Biden administration, imposed in 2023 on Grand Canyon University. The fine was levied after Department investigators documented extensive findings that
Continue Reading >>>

The Trump Department of Education announced two weeks ago that it planned to go hard at student loan borrowers who have not been repaying, declaring that on May 5 it would resume collections of defaulted loans. It was the previous Trump administration that halted collections, in March 2020 at the start of the pandemic. But
Continue Reading >>>

Former for-profit college owner Carl Barney donated more than a million dollars to political committees working to elect Donald Trump in 2024. Yet while the transactional Trump has spent much of his first 100 days taking actions, including through the justice system, that benefit big donors, cronies, and other supporters, the U.S. Justice Department this
Continue Reading >>>

About a decade ago, two notorious for-profit college chains—ITT Technical Institute and Corinthian Colleges—collapsed after state and federal investigations revealed they had defrauded their students. Their closures, essentially overnight, left tens of thousands of students without their promised credentials. Many had debts they couldn’t pay back. A lesser-known but ultimately central player in the saga
Continue Reading >>>

Last week, Washington governor Bob Ferguson signed legislation that will require online, out-of-state colleges that enroll Washington residents to obey the state’s consumer protection laws. State Representative Gerry Pollet, (D-Seattle), sponsor of the legislation, explained in a statement, “Online universities, including many for-profits, who advertise and recruit heavily to entice Washington residents to enroll have sought
Continue Reading >>>

St. Andrews University, a small liberal arts college in Laurinburg, North Carolina, announced today that it will close in ten days, on May 5. In a statement on the school’s website, the president, Tarun Malik, said, “we have reached a point where financial sustainability is no longer attainable.” It’s a sad day for the school’s
Continue Reading >>>

A new report filed with the Federal Election Commission shows that the troubled for-profit college operation Perdoceo Education Corp. donated $50,000 to the 2025 Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee. Almost all of Perdoceo’s revenue comes from U.S. taxpayers. The report filed this week by the Trump committee lists, among hundreds of other gifts from corporations and individuals,
Continue Reading >>>

In a radio interview posted today, University of Idaho president C. Scott Green appeared to indicate that the proposed deal for his school to acquire the for-profit giant University of Phoenix is not going to happen. While Green said the action “is still in Phoenix’s court,” he admitted his school “never got the green light”
Continue Reading >>>