[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 197 (Monday, December 19, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7273-S7274]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                  For-Profit Colleges and Universities

  Madam President, in this Congress, the Democrats have shown up for 
everyday Americans. We passed historic legislation to build 
infrastructure. We became a global leader in chip manufacturing. We 
improved gun safety. We protected our climate. These are wins for 
Americans, and they make headline news.
  Today, I want to talk about an issue that may not get the headlines, 
but it is just as important to fixing our broken student loan system 
and ensuring that Americans can go to school and participate fully in 
our economy and maintain our Nation's competitive edge. I am talking 
about holding for-profit colleges accountable. I have been coming to 
the floor for almost 10 years on this topic. I believe, in my heart of 
hearts, that what is going on here is unfair to students, their 
families, and taxpayers.
  Why is it essential to bring this issue up frequently? Two numbers, 
and these two will be on the final. So pay close attention. The numbers 
are 8 and 30. For-profit colleges enroll only 8 percent of America's 
college students--8 percent--but they account for 30 percent of Federal 
student loan defaults.
  How can that be--8 percent of the students and 30 percent of the 
student loan defaults? The answer is obvious. The schools charge too 
much. They offer too little. Those who don't drop out end up with 
worthless diplomas. In a sentence, that is the problem. It is built on 
a business model, this for-profit college business. It is not built on 
an educational model.
  First, for-profit colleges deliberately lure in first-generation and 
low-income students with slick marketing that the community colleges 
can't even match.
  Second, they pressure students to take on as much debt as possible to 
pay for the courses, and they charge a lot more than community colleges 
in offering good, quality educational courses.
  Third, once the students are enrolled and are on the hook for huge 
amounts of debt, these for-profit colleges provide low-quality 
education and very little support. If a student graduates from a for-
profit college and ends up with a degree that is practically worthless, 
finding a working job that will pay them any kind of money to pay back 
the loan is next to impossible.

[[Page S7274]]

They can barely cover basic living expenses, much less pay back their 
student debt.
  I have been calling for greater scrutiny and accountability of the 
for-profit college industry for years. Despite the well-documented 
misconduct and fraud of this nefarious industry, the Department of 
Education continues to provide billions in Federal funds to them each 
year.
  Under the Trump administration's former Education Secretary, Betsy 
DeVos, for-profit colleges had just an absolute holiday. We witnessed 
crucial protections like the gainful employment rule, which put 
sanctions on the worst performing schools, being rescinded. Early on, 
Secretary DeVos said she was going to prioritize individual students. 
Instead, by removing these safeguards and this accountability, she left 
them even more vulnerable to the unscrupulous for-profit colleges. The 
DeVos Education Department even refused to provide defrauded borrowers 
with the loan discharges they deserved under borrower defense.
  After Secretary DeVos's indefensible borrower defense policies were 
struck down in Federal court, she continued to refuse to act even after 
the court ruled against her, allowing a backlog to build up of--listen 
to this--230,000 student borrowers who languished under mountains of 
debt that Secretary DeVos would not relieve them of in any way. The 
Trump-DeVos Education Department left borrowers hopeless and buried in 
debt while the taxpayers footed the bills.
  As I said, I have called for more accountability over the for-profit 
college industry for a long time. Luckily, the Biden administration is 
listening and is reversing the course taken under the Trump 
administration. I hope it continues to be the case.
  Unlike the Trump-DeVos Department of Education, President Biden's 
Department has processed borrower defense claims as the law requires. 
This has canceled the student loan debt of nearly 1.1 million borrowers 
who were defrauded and swindled by predatory for-profit colleges. 
Legendary names like Corinthian Colleges, ITT Tech, and Westwood turned 
out to be the worst excuses for higher education in America's history. 
This has enabled these students to get a chance to start again, to make 
up for time lost and have a better experience with a for-profit school.
  The Biden administration has also issued sweeping student debt 
relief, which disproportionately helps lower income students, which is 
the way it should be. Borrowers who attend for-profit colleges borrow 
an average of $40,700--that is the average for each student--and 71 
percent do not graduate on time or at all. That is 71 percent of for-
profit school students. For those who do graduate, they often have 
degrees that are worthless and jobs that are worthless as well.
  If the Supreme Court approves President Biden's student loan relief 
plan, it will help millions of borrowers climb out from a mountain of 
debt, pay their bills, and even return to a higher education experience 
that is worthwhile.
  To curb future wrongdoings, the Biden administration has also 
terminated the Federal recognition of a sketchy accrediting agency that 
long ago failed to meet the mark which, long ago, kept these for-profit 
schools in business when it shouldn't have.
  It has taken the steps, too, to close the infamous 90/10 loophole. 
That is a loophole that basically says: For-profit colleges do not 
count GI bill and servicemember benefits as part of their revenues from 
the Federal Government, resulting in some schools generating more than 
90 percent of their revenues from Federal tax dollars.
  Listen to what these schools do. They lure kids into the for-profit 
college experience. They promise them the Sun, the Moon, and the stars. 
Many of them are of the first generation of their families to ever get 
near a college. Their parents can't give them much advice because they 
don't have any lasting experiences to draw from. The students are told: 
Add up your debt, and don't worry about it. You will pay it all back 
with the wonderful job that awaits you in your future.

  It turns out to be a fraud on them, their families, and the public, 
and the taxpayers end up holding the bag. This for-profit industry is 
taking advantage of veterans, too. The GI bill of rights was not 
designed to be wasted on for-profit schools.
  In looking ahead, we need to take steps to ensure that students are 
protected and that there is real supervision and reform. That is why I 
recently introduced the Proprietary Education Interagency Oversight 
Coordination Improvement Act, which has got to be the longest title of 
any bill I have ever introduced. It creates an interagency task force 
with the Departments of Education, Justice, Labor, Veterans Affairs, 
and Defense to improve coordination in dealing with the for-profit 
college industry.
  This is a serious problem. When I think of the thousands of young 
people I am aware of who have been defrauded by these for-profit 
schools, I say shame on us and shame on the Department of Education. 
Let's do right by these young people.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Baldwin). The junior Senator from Alaska.