About: David Halperin
Twitter: @DaHalperin
Bio: David Halperin is the co-founder and editor of Republic Report. Halperin, a self-employed lawyer based in Washington DC, engages in public advocacy, investigative work, and legal representation on a wide range of issues, including higher education, climate change, democracy, corruption, open government, and national security. He also advises organizations and companies on strategy, policy, communications, and legal matters. He is of counsel to Public.Resource.org, a non-profit focused on making legal and government materials available for free to the public.
Halperin’s investigative and advocacy work on predatory for-profit colleges since 2010 has spurred reforms in policy and regulations, triggered law enforcement investigations, and led to the closure of numerous deceptive schools.
Halperin was from 2004 until 2012 the founding director of Campus Progress and senior vice president at the Center for American Progress. Before that, he was: senior policy advisor for Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential campaign; founding executive director of the American Constitution Society; White House speechwriter and special assistant for national security affairs to President Clinton; co-founder of the Internet company Progressive Networks (now called RealNetworks); counsel to the Senate Intelligence Committee; law clerk to U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell (D.D.C.); research assistant to Robert S. McNamara; and research analyst at the Arms Control Association.
Halperin has represented clients in the U.S. Supreme Court and various state and federal courts. Among many other efforts, Halperin helped represent Greenpeace in an unprecedented 2004 Miami criminal jury trial over protest activity, resulting in a directed verdict of acquittal; aided climate groups facing investigation by the House Science Committee during 2015-16; and represented Public Resource in landmark copyright litigation from 2012 to 2024 over efforts to make federal regulations publicly available online without charge.
Halperin writes at Republic Report, and his articles also have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, The Nation, Politico, Slate, Foreign Policy, and other outlets. In recent years he has testified before the House Oversight Committee and at several federal agencies, and he has spoken at major conferences and events across the country. Halperin has served since 2007 on the board of directors of Public Citizen.
Halperin graduated from Yale College and Yale Law School.
Justice Dept. says for-profit college ATI engaged in “widespread” fraud
You can fault the for-profit college trade association APSCU for many things, but not for loyalty. APSCU sticks by its members. In May, the FBI raided FastTrain College amid allegations of fraudulent marketing practices. In June, 20 state attorneys general forced marketing company QuinStreet to shut down GIBill.com, a website that deceived countless veterans into believing they
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On HuffPost: To Get Better Policies, Expose Corrupt Politics
Huffington Post published this piece by me yesterday, as part of its Shadow Conventions series: To grasp the harms caused when money dominates politics, start with for-profit colleges. This industry tripled in size during the last decade, spurred by deceptive recruiting practices, after its lobbyists loosened federal rules aimed at protecting students and taxpayers from
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On Politico: Taming the for-profit college monster
I have a piece today on Politico proposing a new approach to the abuses of for-profit colleges. Here’s an excerpt: The for-profits have used our taxes to finance a race to the bottom: the more you abuse students, the more money you make. Their wealth may doom to failure the current approach to regulation, which has created
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Congressman, After Hometown Criticism, Pulls Out Of Event At For-Profit College Owned by Big RNC Donor
While his House GOP colleagues are getting publicity for spouting bizarre ideas about rape and pregnancy, or jumping into the Sea of Galilee, Representative Marlin Stutzman of Indiana was planning to head today to the Fort Wayne campus of National College for an event promoted as a chance to inform unemployed veterans about new federal
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For-Profit College Lures 14-Year-Old, Dumps Him, Sticks Him With The Bill
All across the country, people are waking up to the abusive practices of for-profit colleges, which take $33 billion a year in taxpayer money, much of it for poor quality programs that leaves students deep in debt and unemployed. The newest bombshell is an in-depth report from Chris Parker in The Village Voice highlighting students
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Harkin, Colleagues Say For-Profit Colleges Squander Billions and Destroy Dreams
At a Capitol Hill press conference today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) released a blockbuster four-volume report based on his two-year investigation of the for-profit college industry. I’ve already discussed the findings of the report, which details how many of the big for-profit schools engage in fraudulent conduct, offer high-priced, low-quality programs, and leave many students
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Sen. Harkin’s Report: For-Profit Colleges Leave Students With Debt But No Degree
Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and his Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee staff released Sunday a report based on a comprehensive investigation of 30 of the biggest for-profit college companies. It’s full of stark revelations about this controversial, troubled industry. I’ve been saying for a couple of years that, no matter how cynical one’s view of
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As NY Gov. Cuomo Faces Fracking Decision, Washington Lobbyists Sip “Fracktinis”
Last week, the oil and gas lobby group the American Petroleum Institute (API) held a red carpet film screening at the Warner Theatre in Washington. Such fancy film events are held regularly in DC, but few come with as sexy a title as this one: the “hydraulic fracturing event of the summer.” Attendees, presumably there for the
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