September 23, 2016

Devastating Reports: ITT Tech Killed Itself

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Two new reports — one from a journalist, the other from an investment research firm — confirm in stark terms that former ITT Tech CEO Kevin Modany, his top lieutenants, and the company’s board of directors have only themselves to blame for the company’s collapse. ITT shut its campuses and declared bankruptcy after the U.S. Department
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September 21, 2016

Leaked Powell Emails Detail Ties to Key For-Profit College Investor

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The hacked emails from former Secretary of State Colin Powell have been widely noted because of Powell’s candid remarks about topics including Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, and nuclear weapons. But Republic Report is intrigued by a series of exchanges about the for-profit college industry between Powell and Jeffrey Leeds, a key private equity investor in, and advocate
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September 21, 2016

New CEO Says DeVry Is Seeking to Resolve Deception Charges

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Lisa Wardell, who joined DeVry Education Group as CEO on May 24, says the for-profit college company is “working to resolve” claims made in a lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission that DeVry misled students about job placement rates and salaries for its schools’ graduates. In an interview with Republic Report yesterday, Wardell maintained DeVry’s prior position that it
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September 14, 2016

House Science Hearing on ExxonMobil & Subpoenas: What You Should Know

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This morning, the House Science Committee is holding an unusual hearing, at which the committee’s chairman, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), apparently aims to justify subpoenas he already has issued to New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, and eight organizations and foundations concerned with the issue of whether Exxon deceived on the public on
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September 8, 2016

ITT Tech Collapse: Radio Version

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I’ve been on some radio shows this week to discuss the collapse of predatory ITT Tech, the fate of students, and the future of for-profit colleges. If you love talk radio, tune in: Background Briefing with Ian Masters, Sept. 6 The Agenda with Ari Rabin-Havt, SiriusXM Progress 127, Sept. 8 The Source, Texas Public Radio,
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September 6, 2016

Good Riddance: 6 Facts About Shut-Down ITT Tech

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This morning, one of the nation’s biggest for-profit colleges, ITT Tech, announced that it has permanently shut down its academic operations and fired the “overwhelming majority” of its more than 8,000 employees. In a typically self-pitying, remorseless statement, the company blamed all its woes on the U.S. Department of Education, which, ITT claimed, acted with “a
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August 17, 2016

Experts Warn Competency-Based Education Can Be Abused, pt. 2

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Editor’s note from David Halperin: Last week, we posted a piece reporting concerns by a leading higher education expert (who asked not to be identified by name because of job concerns) that lobbying could weaken protections in federal laws governing competency-based education (CBE), and that such changes could increase the ability of unethical institutions to defraud students and taxpayers.
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August 12, 2016

At Risk: For-Profit College Converts To Non-Profit Status

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The U.S. Department of Education yesterday took a momentous step, deciding that the CollegeAmerica / Stevens-Henager / CEHE chain of colleges, despite formally converting from a for-profit to a non-profit enterprise, is still acting like a self-interested business corporation, rather than a charitable institution, and thus should remain subject to the handful of rules that
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