Nicholas Kent, formerly a policy officer at for-profit college association CECU, was sworn in as Under Secretary of Education, signaling potential deregulation and reduced oversight of higher education institutions. The Senate confirmed his nomination with a narrow 50-45 vote, amid concerns about …
Donald TrumpNicholas KentTrump Administrationcorruptionregulatory-captureeducationtrump-administrationfor-profit-colleges
The University of Phoenix’s enrollment collapsed from a peak of 470,000 students in 2010 to approximately 95,000 by fall 2018—an 80% decline—as federal and state investigations exposed systematic fraud including deceptive advertising that falsely promised job opportunities with major companies …
University of PhoenixApollo Education GroupFederal Trade Commissionfor-profit-collegesfraudstudent-debtuniversity-of-phoenix
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos systematically blocked debt relief for over 200,000 students defrauded by for-profit colleges, overruling internal Education Department career staff who had recommended full loan forgiveness. Internal memos from the department’s Borrower Defense Unit dated …
Betsy DeVosU.S. Department of EducationCorinthian CollegesITT Technical Instituteregulatory-capturepredatory-lendingeducationstudent-debtconsumer-protection+1 more
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced on June 14, 2017, that she would delay implementation of Obama-era “borrower defense to repayment” regulations scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2017—rules designed to help students defrauded by predatory colleges like Corinthian and ITT Tech …
Corinthian Colleges, one of the nation’s largest for-profit college chains with over 100 campuses, filed for bankruptcy after federal and state regulators exposed systematic fraud against students. The company aggressively recruited low-income students with false promises of high job placement …
Corinthian CollegesU.S. Department of EducationConsumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities (APSCU)predatory-lendingeducationstudent-debtcorporate-fraudregulatory-capture+1 more
The U.S. Department of Education imposed a 21-day hold on all federal aid flowing to Corinthian Colleges on June 12, 2014, after the for-profit chain—operating as Everest College, WyoTech, and Heald College—refused to provide documentation substantiating falsified job placement rates. The action …
Department of EducationCorinthian CollegesArne Duncanfor-profit-collegesstudent-debtfraudcorinthian-colleges
On July 30, 2012, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee released the Harkin Report, a devastating two-year investigation documenting systematic fraud, abuse, and taxpayer exploitation in the for-profit college industry. The 2,000-page report, based on subpoenaed …
Senator Tom HarkinSenate HELP CommitteeUniversity of PhoenixCorinthian CollegesITT Tech+3 moreeducationfor-profit-collegesfraudstudent-debtregulatory-failure+1 more
A Government Accountability Office investigation released on August 4, 2010, exposed systemic fraud and deceptive practices across the for-profit college industry, revealing that while these institutions enrolled only 10-12% of all higher education students, they received 25% of all federal …
Government Accountability Office (GAO)Tom Harkinfor-profit-collegesstudent-debtfraudregulatory-capture
On October 7, 1998, President Bill Clinton signed the Higher Education Amendments of 1998, a reauthorization of the Higher Education Act that loosened regulations on for-profit colleges and set the stage for the industry’s explosive growth over the following decade. The legislation represented …
President Bill ClintonCongressApollo Group (University of Phoenix)Career Education CorporationHigher education lobbyistseducationfor-profit-collegesstudent-debtregulatory-capturederegulation