WASHINGTON—Following reports that the U.S. Department of Education is unwinding the unit tasked with investigating fraud at for-profit colleges and universities, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today slammed President Trump and Secretary Betsy DeVos for their orchestrated takeover of the Department of Education by the predatory for-profit college industry. In a speech on the Senate floor, Durbin blasted Secretary DeVos for dismantling the Enforcement Unit that was set-up in 2016 to prevent future fraud by for-profit colleges even while tens of thousands of students continue to wait for the federal student loan discharges to which they are entitled under law because they were defrauded by Corinthian Colleges and ITT Tech.
“The DeVos-orchestrated takeover of the Department of Education by the for-profit college industry is an embarrassment. It’s an affront to students, their families, and to taxpayers. The Trump Administration and Secretary DeVos are more concerned with protecting their rich buddies in the for-profit college industry than protecting America’s students and their families. They don’t seem to care that taxpayer dollars are being wasted, as long as those dollars are going into friends’ pockets. It’s shameful. It’s scandalous. It’s become routine in the U.S. Department of Education,” Durbin said.
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The for-profit college industry enrolls just nine percent of all post-secondary students, but accounts for 33 percent of all federal student loan defaults. In the last five years, nearly every major for-profit college has been investigated or sued by one or more state attorney general and federal agency for unfair, deceptive, and abusive practices.
