Oversight and Investigations
Oversight and Investigations are two critical components of identifying and addressing predatory conduct by institutions. While the vast majority of predatory practices dominate colleges owned and operated by for-profit corporations and private equity investors, non-profit colleges have increasingly converted from for-profit to non-profit status while maintaining the hallmarks of aggressive recruiting and high-cost, low-quality programs. Both non-profit and public colleges have contracted with for-profit third-party entities (primarily online program managers) that engage in questionable and sometimes fraudulent conduct.
Oversight
Oversight by the United States Congress plays a key role in ensuring that billions of dollars in annual federal financial aid is not being squandered and that students receiving that aid are not being misled and deceived by their schools. The United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) has led key oversight work, but Congressional committees have periodically investigated the “cycle of abuse” by low-quality colleges over time. Accrediting agencies also play an important role in overseeing the quality of higher education programs, and the coalition works to encourage better efforts to identify and address predatory practices, deception, and poor outcomes by accreditors.
Investigations
The coalition strongly supports the work of State Attorneys General and Federal Agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission, that are engaged in work that has identified harms to student consumers and securities violations. A comprehensive list of law enforcement investigations may be found here.
The coalition strongly supports efforts by the Department of Education to investigate and address conduct by colleges that violates the Higher Education Act, including a focus on predatory practices, substantial misrepresentations to students, and fraud; the coalition also appreciates efforts by the Department to identify and address misconduct and financial weakness earlier and more effectively. Key investigations that have been initiated include allegations that a large for-profit college that has misled students about the time to complete programs, widespread fraud by a for-profit college that led to removal of high-level executives, and orderly closure of the college engaged in fraud.