March 10, 2020

VA To Cut Off GI Bill Funds For Two Big For-Profit Colleges, Maybe

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced Monday that it plans to stop approving use of GI Bill dollars for veterans seeking to start education programs at two of the biggest for-profit college operations. One is Perdoceo, which runs American Intercontinental University and Colorado Technical University. The other is the University of Phoenix, long the
Continue Reading >>>

December 10, 2019

FTC Nails University of Phoenix For Ad Whose Deceptions Reflect Disturbing Deal

I’ve written here before about the shameful practice of many large employers offering a dubious benefit to their employees: “discounted” tuition to overpriced for-profit colleges, some of them schools that have faced numerous law enforcement actions for fraud and deception. I’ve questioned why these employers would want to steer their employees to schools that ruin
Continue Reading >>>

January 4, 2017

NY Post Slam of U of Phoenix Deal Suggests Depths of DC Corruption

University-Of-Phoenix

An article in today’s New York Post renews legitimate concerns about a pending private equity takeover of the largest for-profit college, the University of Phoenix. But the piece does so in a troubling manner, citing as critics of the deal supposed experts who themselves have traded on revolving door connections to take for-profit college cash. The Post piece
Continue Reading >>>

December 7, 2016

Department of Education Requires 25% Letter of Credit to Approve University of Phoenix Owner Change

phoenixad

The U.S. Department of Education today approved the application of the Apollo Education Group, owner of the University of Phoenix, to convert from being a publicly-traded company to one owned by private equity firms and still keep its eligibility for federal student grants and loans. But in a letter, the Department, expressly citing the multiple
Continue Reading >>>

May 28, 2016

A Dubious Benefit: Big Employers Steer Workers to Troubled For-Profit Colleges

Screen Shot 2016-05-28 at 1.39.56 PM

American Airlines tells its workers that one of the employee benefits for which they are eligible is “career development training,” and an internal employee benefits web page lists American’s “learning partners and other sources for tuition discounts, waived enrollment fees and education grants to help you further develop your professional skills.” The schools listed by the company
Continue Reading >>>

May 19, 2016

University of Phoenix Won’t Force Students to Arbitrate Claims; Scope Unclear

University-Of-Phoenix

The University of Phoenix just announced that it will no longer require students to agree when enrolling to give up their rights to pursue in court any disputes with the school. Many for-profit colleges have used such fine-print clauses to force any complaint into secret arbitration proceedings that tend to be stacked against students and
Continue Reading >>>

March 17, 2016

Top Democratic Lawyer Pushed Pentagon To End U. of Phoenix Suspension

gorelick

Lawyer Jamie Gorelick, who served in the Bill Clinton Administration as general counsel of the Department of Defense and later as Deputy Attorney General, this year successfully pressed the Pentagon on behalf of the nation’s biggest for-profit college, the University of Phoenix, to lift a suspension of the school for alleged recruiting abuses directed at U.S. military
Continue Reading >>>

March 8, 2016

Arizona: For-Profit College Paradise?

Mark Boisclair Photography, Inc.

  As government regulators and law enforcement agencies in Washington and around the country have come to recognize that some of the biggest for-profit colleges have been deceiving and abusing students, and as media reports have exposed these abuses, and as many students have started to look elsewhere for their educations, at least one State
Continue Reading >>>