Some for-profit colleges came to be a curse on the very students they were in business to help, doing little more than exploiting students for their federal grants, loans and veterans benefits while failing to educate them adequately to find employment in competitive job markets.
Taking steps to shut off the federal spigot to for-profit shakedown artists is the only way to try to make it right for students who have little or nothing to show for the thousands of dollars in debt they incurred to get the promised training.
The most recent one to get the hammer from the U.S. Department of Education is ITT Tech, one of the nation’s biggest for-profit colleges with about 35,000 students, 8,000 employees and more than 100 campuses across the country offering vocational education.
For-profit colleges have seen a 225 percent increase in enrollment in the past couple of decades. A study by the National Conference of State Legislatures said that in the 2010-2011 academic year, about 2.4 million students — 12 percent of all college students — were enrolled in for-profit schools.
Part of the reason they became popular, other than the far-fetched promises and predatory tactics they used to lure students, was that they offered opportunities traditional schools would be wise to consider: flexible scheduling, year-round enrollment, online options, small class sizes, convenient locations and skills training.
There also were some fine instructors and staff at the ITT campuses who were trying to do the right thing for students, and it’s unfortunate that they have lost their jobs because of the school’s decision to close its doors.
The Education Department has been criticized for allowing blatant abuses by for-profit colleges to continue unchallenged for years.
Last year, the department took steps that resulted in the closure of Corinthian Colleges, another behemoth in the industry that was almost solely dependent on taxpayer funds. By law, for-profit colleges can’t depend on federal dollars for more than 90 percent of operating revenue.
Follow-up action against ITT Tech helps serve notice that the Education Department, prodded by the White House, is moving more aggressively to protect students and taxpayers.
Critics have charged that influential Washington insiders helped the schools retain their power. Former President Bill Clinton is an example. From 2010 to 2015, he made $18 million as the “honorary chancellor” of Laureate Education, a worldwide for-profit college network. Trump University, a for-profit institution promoted by Donald Trump, the GOP presidential candidate, is now defending itself in federal court against allegations of fraud.
Too many examples abound of shameless abuses by for-profit colleges. A crackdown is overdue, including tightening laws to ensure that students seeking to make themselves more employable don’t get their pockets picked in the process.
This editorial was published Sept. 11, 2016, in the St. Louis Dispatch. Find the original article here: http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/columns/the-platform/editorial-closing-itt-tech-helps-stop-for-profit-colleges-from/article_b77accb0-8cfc-5c47-bccb-8e02b3abef43.html