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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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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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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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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At a press conference Monday, Sens. Tom Harkin (D-IA), flanked by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), unveiled a new report looking at the abuses against students by the for-profit college industry, which is largely subsidized by the taxpayer with few strings attached. In recent months, abuses against veterans in particular have come
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    Some Members of Congress are stepping up to increase oversight over the for-profit college industry, which is heavily subsidized by taxpayers but which continues to abuse our veterans and other students. As a part of this effort, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) sought to report about the salaries of top executives at these companies.
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Yesterday at Sen. Tom Harkin’s press conference on the release of his new report on the predatory nature of the for-profit college industry, one of the most illuminating testimonies came not from the senator or his colleagues, but from a former active and knowing participant in the abusive system. Laura Brozek worked for ITT Technical
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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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