Democratic Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, the Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, is planning hearings on the “For Profit” colleges in the nation, which are well known for their scandalous behavior in recruitment and financing!
The “For Profit” colleges are led by the University of Phoenix, ITT Educational Services, Inc, Career Education Corp and other corporations, which together receive more than $20 billion in grants and loans for students!
The problem is that the recruiting practices of these corporations encourage students to sign up for expensive career programs with no guarantee of employment, and the level of debt incurred leads to high levels of default, which puts the burden on the taxpayers of America! 🙁
The “For Profit” schools recruit mostly poor and minority students with great promises of success, but often do not do anything to help them find employment! Also the tuition is outrageously high, without adequate instruction and equipment and student services!
Nearly two million students are in the “For Profit” schools, but levels of emotional manipulation by recruiters are rampant against people who have no conception of the false promises that are being made to them!
The question of whether these “For Profit” schools are truly “educating” their students is an open question! A full investigation and exposure of this industry, already reported on by PBS, is essential, before there are more victims among students and taxpayers alike! 🙁
You should of heard Tim Pawlenty last night on the daily show. He was touting for profit schools as the schools of the future. I thought Stewart dropped the ball last night. Not good.