McCain, Alexander Press DoD To Back Off Probe of U. of Phoenix, Their Donor
Republican Senators John McCain (AZ), Jeff Flake (AZ), and Lamar Alexander (TN) wrote today to Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter calling on him to “reconsider” the Department’s decision to put the largest for-profit college, the University of Phoenix, on probation for alleged violations in recruiting U.S. military service members. All three Senators have received significant
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For-Profit College Owner, Who Used Strippers As Lure, Goes On Trial
Alejandro Amor (pictured just above), the former owner-CEO of for-profit FastTrain College, is scheduled to face a jury trial in Miami Wednesday morning. Amor and his co-defendant, former FastTrain admissions staffer Anthony Mincey, face criminal charges of defrauding the federal government to obtain about $6.5 million in student aid — Pell grants and Direct Loans. Two other FastTrain employees charged
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For-Profit Colleges Enlist Capitol Hill Supplicants, US Chamber In Renewed Push Against Obama Rule
The for-profit college’s trade association, APSCU, was once mighty but is now hobbled, discredited, and depleted. Yet the group, and its industry, still have the money — most it from taxpayer-funded student aid to its schools — to lobby, give campaign contributions to politicians, and hire lawyers to fight its biggest piece of Kryptonite: the
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Report Exposes For-Profit College Abuses in Converting to Non-Profits
An investigative report released this morning documents how some for-profit college owners have converted their companies into non-profit schools in a way that allows them to evade the regulatory obligations and deservedly bad reputation of for-profits while continuing to reap enormous financial benefits. These operators have done so, the report finds, by subverting the rules governing non-profit schools, while the
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House Democrat Group Asks Administration To Forgive Debt of All Corinthian Students
A group of Democratic members of the House of Representatives are sending a letter this morning calling on the Department of Education to “automatically discharge the debt” of all students who attended campuses run by now-bankrupt Corinthian Colleges, one of the worst actors in the scandalized for-profit college sector. The letter, spearheaded by Reps. Keith Ellison (D-MN)
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For-Profit College Lobbyist Explains Decades of Fraud as Humanitarian Mission
A Politico profile of Secretary of Education Arne Duncan quotes just two commenters regarding the Obama Administration’s effort to curb abuses by for-profit colleges, and both of them have been long-time lobbyists for the industry: bulldog lawyer Lanny Davis and former congressman Steve Gunderson (R-WI), who heads the industry’s main trade group, APSCU. Only Duncan is
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Mass. Attorney General: For-Profit College Kaplan Deceived Students
Massachusetts attorney general Maura Healey today announced settlements of her investigations of two large for-profit college chains — Kaplan and Lincoln Technical Institute — for unfair and deceptive student recruiting practices. Kaplan will pay $1.375 million to former students, and Lincoln Tech will pay out about $1 million. Court documents filed in the matters describe the
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Debt Collection Agency Run By Ex-Bush Official & Ex-Corinthian Exec Sues To Pile More Penalties on Broke Students
Inside Higher Ed reports today that USA Funds, a corporation engaged in collecting federal student loan debts from borrowers, has sued the U.S. Department of Education over a policy statement the Department released last week barring companies from charging loan collection fees to students who default but promptly make arrangements to resume payments. USA Funds’s complaint says the
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