Lawmakers Increase Criticism Of Report On For-Profit Colleges
22 Décembre 2010 - 11:32PM
Dow Jones News
Opposition is building in Congress against a U.S. Government
Affairs Office report on for-profit colleges, but it remains
unclear what effect the criticism will have.
Six members of the U.S. House of Representatives asked the GAO
in a letter Tuesday for clarification of the agency's methodology
in an investigation critical of 15 for-profit schools' recruiting
tactics. Sen. Mike Enzi (R., Wyo.), ranking member of the Senate
Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, issued a
similar letter Dec. 7.
The GAO report on 15 for-profit colleges, released in August,
found that admissions representatives from all the schools offered
misleading or fraudulent information to undercover agents posing as
prospective students. Included among the schools were campuses
owned by Education Management Corp. (EDMC), Apollo Group Inc.
(APOL), Corinthian Colleges Inc. (COCO) and Washington Post Co.'s
(WPO) Kaplan Higher Education.
The agency on Nov. 30 issued revisions to the report, softening
several examples of recruiters' deceptive practices. Still, the GAO
said the revisions don't change its overall assessment.
Lobbyists for a number of for-profit schools have questioned the
report's findings.
Even if the GAO report is further disputed, the schools are far
from cleared. For-profit colleges face a firestorm over their
recruiting practices, graduation rates and student debt loads and
next year will face a series of new federal regulations including
restrictions on recruiter compensation and possible penalties for
graduating students with high debt burdens. The U.S. Department of
Education on Wednesday issued data showing that 46.3% of dollars
lent to students at for-profit schools in 2008 will eventually
default, compared with an average 15.8% default rate by dollar
across all schools.
Tuesday's letter was signed by Reps. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.),
John Kline (R., Minn.), Alcee Hastings (D., Fla.), Carolyn McCarthy
(D., N.Y.), Brett Guthrie (R., Ky.) and Glenn Thompson (R., Penn.).
Issa is the incoming chair of the House Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform, while Kline will take charge of the House
Committee on Education and Labor.
"We received the letter and have reached out to set up a
meeting," GAO spokesman Chuck Young said in a statement. "We plan
to provide the members with the information they are seeking."
The Coalition for Educational Success, a lobbying group of
for-profit schools founded in August, earlier this month filed a
lawsuit against the Education Department, alleging it wrongfully
withheld records related to the GAO report and other issues despite
the group's filing of a Freedom of Information Act request.
Seven senators, led by Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.), Wednesday
sent a letter to Education Secretary Arne Duncan taking issue with
the Education Department's proposed regulation that would link
programs' access to federal student aid to graduates'
loan-repayment rates.
What might come of the criticism remains to be seen. Senate
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Tom Harkin (D.,
Iowa)--who called the GAO's revisions "minor"--said he will
continue to investigate for-profit colleges and intends to
introduce legislation in 2011 to regulate the industry. The
committee has already held a series of hearings on the subject.
Some observers say it is too late for any real change in
sentiment, and the more-vocal criticism of the GAO report will only
serve to increase frustrations and drag out scrutiny of the
for-profit college sector.
"I appreciate how questioning the methodology in the report
could invalidate the findings, but I think it's still very unclear
at this point whether this effort is going to actually shift any
opposition from the industry," said Jarrel Price of Height
Analytics. "If you were already opposed, you're still opposed."
-By Melissa Korn, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2271;
melissa.korn@dowjones.com
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