Senate

Dems seek crackdown on for-profit schools

by Jordain Carney - 06/26/15 12:11 PM ET

Senate Democrats want to crack down on for-profit schools by closing a loophole and forcing them to get at least 10 percent of their revenue from nonfederal sources.

Sens. Tom Carper (D-Del.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) introduced legislation Friday that they say would help protect troops and veterans from potentially being taken advantage of by for-profit institutions.

{mosads}The senators said, under the current law, for-profit colleges can count federal aid received by troops and veterans to help pay for college as nonfederal revenue. They argue that the loophole has led to some for-profit schools “aggressively recruiting veterans and G.I. Bill tuition dollars.”

In the past five years, 40 percent of benefits under the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill have gone to for-profit schools, according to a fact sheet from Carper’s office.

While the Delaware Democrat acknowledged that “not every for-profit college is a bad actor,” he said “it doesn’t make sense for taxpayers to send veterans to for-profit schools that can be 100 percent subsidized using taxpayers’ dollars.”

Blumenthal added, “too many of these predatory, for-profit institutions continue to be propped up by taxpayer funding, including the G.I. Bill, which is allowed because of the 90-10 loophole.”

Roughly two dozen Senate Democrats have backed the legislation.

Christopher Neiweem, an Iraq War veteran and legislative associate at Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), also offered support for the proposal, saying it would “remove the incentive to target service members and veterans.”

Tags Dick Durbin Richard Blumenthal Tom Carper