Dems demand more regs on for-profit colleges

Democratic lawmakers are calling for more federal regulations and oversight of for-profit colleges.

Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) touted the support of more than a dozen attorneys general for their Proprietary Education Oversight Coordination Improvement Act, which would allow the federal government to increase accountability standards for the colleges.

{mosads}“Since my investigation of for-profit colleges, the need for close cooperation between education, consumer protection, and financial focused agencies has become apparent,” Harkin said Tuesday. “This bill will ensure that oversight of these companies continues and that suspect practices are more quickly identified and addressed.”

Cummings said attorneys general need Congress to ensure that for-profit are no longer “exploiting the federal student aid system and failing their students.”

The Democratic bill would establish an interagency committee that would provide Congress with annual reports on for-profit colleges. The panel would also create a warning list for schools that might be engaged in illegal activities.

On Tuesday, the lawmakers received a letter from 14 attorneys general expressing their support for the legislation.

“The bill is both timely and necessary as each of our offices have encountered far too many former and current for-profit school students who have been harmed by the dishonest and unethical practices of some for-profit institutions,” the letter stated.

For-profit colleges receive 20 percent of federal student loan funding, despite enrolling only 10 percent of all college students. Some Democrats have complained that for-profit colleges disproportionately take federal funds without properly training students with valuable workforce skills.