In a recent interview, Nicholas Kent, the Trump administration’s chief higher education official, signaled a desire to short-circuit the American system of college accreditation. Since the 20th century, accreditors deputized by the federal government have determined whether colleges are financially and academically sound enough to access federal student aid. They effectively act as arbiters of
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Beauty school students nationwide, especially those attending large, for-profit chains, often endure hosts of challenges before and after they graduate, research has shown. During school, students often sit through outdated lessons that don’t prep them for a contemporary beauty career, an experience made all the worse when they aren’t paid for their work and their
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The California Institute of Technology will settle a class-action lawsuit from students who argued the institution misled them when they enrolled in an online cybersecurity bootcamp that bore Caltech’s name—but was run by a contractor called an online program manager, or OPM. Caltech must be explicit in its advertising that the cybersecurity program is a
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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
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Editor’s Note: This piece highlights the findings of Cut Short, a new, comprehensive investigation by think tank New America into the troubling realities of cosmetology education. The full report unpacks how for-profit beauty schools exploit federal financial aid, burdening students with debt while failing to provide a viable path to financial stability. In the fall
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That school, part of the prominent Paul Mitchell beauty chain, had violated the rules of the accreditor, the National Accrediting Commission of Cosmetology Arts and Sciences, requiring that institutions maintain sound finances. Paul Mitchell The School Knoxville needed accreditation to survive. Federal law prohibits students from using federal financial aid like Pell Grants at unaccredited
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In 2020, the University of Arizona acquired Ashford University, an online for-profit college that a California court later found guilty of having deceived students about job prospects, transfer opportunities, and degree costs. Feeling pressured to better compete in the online education market — especially as Arizona State University broadened its virtual options — University of Arizona leaders recast
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For-profit companies that help colleges create and recruit students into online programs cannot represent themselves as part of those institutions, nor can they claim that their virtual credentials are equivalent to in-person ones, the U.S. Department of Education announced Tuesday. Doing so would likely be considered misrepresentation and could result in the Education Department fining
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