[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.