Bush EPA Head Says Obama Chemical Safety Plan Is Too Weak
Former New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman (R), who headed the EPA under President George W. Bush, has written to President Obama’s EPA head, Gina McCarthy, to argue that the EPA’s proposed regulation to reduce the risks of explosions at U.S. chemical plants is too weak. Whitman writes that her purpose is “to urge the EPA to
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New Head of Zuckerberg Education Charity Sits on Board Governing Troubled For-Profit College
In an announcement that received wide media coverage, James H. Shelton this week was named the first head of the education component of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a new corporation, dedicated to charitable ventures, that is funded by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan. According to Zuckerberg’s announcement of Shelton’s appointment, “Jim
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Ellen DeGeneres Shills For For-Profit College Facing Law Enforcement Probes
Today on her television show, in honor of the upcoming Mother’s Day, Ellen DeGeneres gave a $25,000 college scholarship to Courtney, an Oklahoma stay-at-home mom who wants to be an ultrasound technician. That’s fantastic. Except that the scholarship is to attend the for-profit University of Phoenix, which even with a $25,000 scholarship could turn out
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Education Dept., Getting Fed Up, Links For-Profit College To “Grifters”
Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Education took the rare step of cutting off federal student aid to two for-profit college chains, each accused of deceiving the Department and their own students. Now the Department has denied an appeal by one of the schools, Computer Systems Institute (CSI!), and done so with a bit more, shall
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FTC Takes Action Against Florida For-Profit College Marketer
The Federal Trade Commission announced yesterday its first settlement with an education lead generation company, Orlando-based Expand, Inc., and its owner, Ayman “Alec” El-Difrawi, for alleged deceptive practices. The FTC contends that Expand, which operates under the names Gigats, EducationMatch and SoftRock, has been claiming to visitors to its websites that it is “pre-screening” job applicants, when in fact it is
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Case Builds Against For-Profit Colleges Denying Students Legal Rights
In recent months, leading Members of Congress, state attorneys general, and non-profit groups have called on the Department of Education to stop colleges that receive federal student aid from forcing students to resolve disputes with their schools in secret arbitration proceedings. (I’ve been active in this advocacy effort.) After decades of neglecting this issue, the Department
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Troubled For-Profit Colleges ‘Eager to Assist’-Enroll-Students of Shut-Down School
The headline of a Kansas City Star article posted today reads, “Some private for-profit schools come to the aid of former Wright Career College students; Vatterott Educational Centers, Brown Mackie College and National American University offer assistance.” The article includes this passage: One of the schools reaching out to Wright students is St. Louis-based Vatterott Educational Centers.
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Departure of Head of College Accrediting Group Won’t Fix the Problem
I’ve received information that Albert C. Gray, who has been the President and Chief Executive Officer of the controversial accrediting body the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS), may be leaving that organization. Sunday afternoon I emailed Anthony Bieda, ACICS’s Vice President of External Affairs, asking him about this information — that his group’s
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