A good NYT editorial about the Obama admin finally cracking down on abuses in the for-profit higher education industry:

The Obama administration is right to tighten the operating rules for these for-profit schools and right to press states to vigilantly monitor them.

The need for these changes was underscored last month when Kathleen Tighe, the inspector general for the Department of Education, told Congress that 70 percent of her department's higher education fraud investigations were focused on for-profit schools.

Schools have been caught falsifying data on student enrollment levels, attendance and eligibility requirements. Federal student aid is usually the main source — up to 90 percent in some cases — of the revenue at these often highly profitable schools. A disturbing Senate report also found that many for-profits spent suspiciously little money on teaching, while spending lavishly on recruiting, marketing and administrative costs.

…The for-profit sector will fight these rules tooth and nail. The Obama administration should not back away. Congress also needs to keep closer tabs on this rapidly expanding industry to make sure that it works for students rather than fleecing them.

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July 28, 2010, NYT editorial

Who Profits? Who Learns?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/29/opinion/29thu2.html