In recent years, a number of major for-profit operators such as Education Corporation of America, Vatterott Colleges, Education Management Corporation, ITT Tech and Corinthian Colleges have abruptly closed their doors under the weight of mismanagement, scandal and state and federal investigations. As a result, tens of thousands of students have been left wondering how to recover the time and money they invested in an education that suddenly vanished.
The Department of Education led by Secretary Betsy DeVos has harmed students by repeatedly giving bad actors in the for-profit college sector a pass. The department reinstated the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools — ended in 2016 by the Obama administration for failing to hold accountable the for-profit schools it accredited — approved dubious conversions of for-profit colleges to nonprofit status and dismantled the accountability framework for colleges receiving federal student aid.