Published: June 2015

ED can do more to prevent widespread fraud

In light of the recent bankruptcy of Corinthian Colleges, and its subsequent campus shutdowns, coalition advocates urge the Education Department to develop a proactive strategy that would prevent for-profit schools that are under investigation for predatory practices from receiving federal aid and further defrauding students.

In 2012, the Senate HELP Committee released investigation findings that thoroughly documented many examples of misleading and deceptive practices by Corinthian Colleges, as well as other for-profit schools. Three years later, the company collapsed, leaving thousands of students with worthless degrees, mountains of debt and confusing terms for recourse.

The Department of Education (ED) has been too slow to react to the overwhelming evidence that proves many for-profit schools should not be in the business of accepting federal aid and educating students. Waiting for an institution’s imminent collapse, like Corinthian, is not an effective strategy for dealing with the for-profit education industry. Instead, coalition advocates outline a more proactive way ED can protect students and taxpayers from widespread fraud and predatory lending.

Lead Organization

The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS)

Other Organizations

Air Force Sergeants Association | American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) | American Association of University Professors (AAUP) | American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) | American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO | Americans for Financial Reform | Blue Star Families | Campaign for America’s Future | Center for Public Interest Law | Children’s Advocacy Institute | Consumer Action | Consumers Union | Empire Justice Center | Generation Progress | Higher Ed, Not Debt | The Institute for College Access & Success | Institute for Higher Education Policy | Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) | The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights | League of United Latin American Citizens | MALDEF | Mississippi Center for Justice | National Association of Consumer Advocates | National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients) | National Consumers League | National Education Association (NEA) | National Guard Association of the United States | The Other 98% | Paralyzed Veterans of America | Project on Predatory Student Lending of the Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School | Public Advocates Inc. | Public Law Center | Service Employees International Union (SEIU) | Student Debt Crisis | Student Veterans of America | United States Student Association | University of San Diego Veterans Legal Clinic | U.S. PIRG | Veterans Education Success | Veterans for Common Sense | Veterans’ Student Loan Relief Fund | VetJobs | VetsFirst, a program of United Spinal Association Vietnam Veterans of America | Woodstock Institute

More Information

For more information, visit TICAS.

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ED can do more to prevent widespread fraud   (CoalitionLetter_SecretaryDuncan_June3.2015.pdf)