[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 75 (Wednesday, May 1, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3099-S3100]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          For-Profit Colleges

  Mr. President, today is May 1. For many students, this is college 
decision day--about the time when they have to commit for next year's 
school year, pave a pathway for a better future.
  For Chicagoan LaKesha Howard-Williams, a straight-A student who 
dreamed of attending college to pursue art, this was certainly the 
case. LaKesha was accepted to a nonprofit college outside of Chicago, 
but she decided to move back home and transfer to a community college 
near her home.
  Sadly, her parents lost their home during the 2008 recession, and 
shortly after she moved back, her father passed away. LaKesha's family 
was struggling, and she eventually left community college to go to 
work.
  After some time in a low-paying job without a college degree, LaKesha 
decided to go back to school to finish her education. However, her 
family could not afford to send her to a prestigious arts college. As 
she began researching scholarships, LaKesha was flooded with brochures 
for a for-profit college, the Illinois Institute of Art.
  Mr. President, I don't have to tell you that is a name that is close 
to the actual Illinois Art Institute, which is a well-known and 
respected institution, but this Illinois Institute of Art was a lot 
different.
  After being heavily pursued by the Illinois Institute of Art, LaKesha 
applied to it. They accepted her within days of her application and 
immediately encouraged her to take out student loans. This was the 
first sign of foul play. Her family was hesitant to see their daughter 
assume this kind of debt, but the school assured her it would be ``well 
worth it,'' so she took out loans so she could enroll in this phony 
Illinois Institute of Art.
  Although disappointed by the quality of her instructors and 
coursework, she was determined she was going to finish and get her 
degree, but as the weeks went by, more and more red flags appeared.
  In 2017, an organization called Dream Center bought the school and 
promised an even better education, but things didn't improve for 
LaKesha. Then the school's President left suddenly and the staff 
disappeared. The final red flag was when the school lost its 
accreditation--something that it hid from the students for 6 months. 
Then it suddenly announced it was going to close at the end of the 
year.
  LaKesha was able to transfer, but before moving to a better quality 
school, she estimated she would have more than $70,000 in student loans 
from the Illinois Institute of Art.
  Unfortunately, LaKesha is far from the only student who has been 
duped and deceived by the predatory for-profit college industry. For 
years, for-profit colleges have lined their pockets at the expense of 
students and taxpayers. These organizations mislead students into 
enrolling in programs that offer low-quality instruction, substandard 
job prospects, nontransferable course credits, and a worthless degree. 
Even more sickening, they deliberately target the most vulnerable--low-
income students, first-generation students, veterans, students of 
color. They go after them with aggressive marketing tactics and 
promises of well-paying jobs.
  Mr. President, I am going to give you two numbers. I warn you in 
advance that these two numbers are both going to be on the final, so 
listen carefully. Although for-profit colleges enroll only

[[Page S3100]]

8 percent--8 percent--of America's college students, they account for 
30 percent of Federal student loan defaults--8 percent of the students; 
30 percent of the student loan defaults.
  How does this happen? Well, after aggressively marketing themselves, 
for-profit colleges pressure students to take on as much debt as 
possible to pay for courses that would cost far less at a community 
college or even a 4-year university.
  Once students enroll and are on the hook for huge amounts of debt, 
the schools provide low-quality education and little support. If they 
manage to graduate, students end up with degrees that are practically 
worthless, working jobs that they could have been hired for prior to 
enrolling, and struggling to pay back crippling debt.
  Extensive investigations have revealed the deception of some of the 
worst actors.
  This morning, the Department of Education announced $6.1 billion in 
student loan dischargees for 317,000 students who attended the Art 
Institutes--317,000, including LaKesha. In Illinois alone, nearly 
13,000 students will see more than $250 million in borrower defense 
discharges.
  In its investigation, the Department found that the Art Institutes 
misrepresented their employment rates to prospective students.
  Imagine, if you will, a student with a family that has never had 
anyone go to college, knows just in the vaguest terms what they are 
getting into. They send their daughter to sign up and enroll in one of 
these colleges. She says: Mom and Dad, I had to sign up for student 
loans. It is the only way I could have gone to school.
  They think to themselves, well, maybe that is the sacrifice people 
make to get a college degree that ends up with a good-paying job.
  It turns out it is a phony operation from start to finish--falsified 
income data for graduates, denied career services for graduates. They 
learn, unfortunately, years after they get the debt started, that they 
have a worthless investment.
  The Department found similar and deceptive practices in other for-
profit colleges, like DeVry. DeVry in Chicago promoted false job-
placement rates. Grand Canyon University--sounds impressive, right?--
lied to students about the cost of its programs.
  The Obama administration started to require accountability measures, 
but under the Trump administration and Secretary DeVos, lapdogs 
replaced the watchdogs. Then-Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos hired 
top officials who had worked for the for-profit industry.
  It is long past time that we hold these profit-hungry, fraudulent 
institutions accountable.
  What rankles me the most is the fact that these students are not only 
victims, with student debt up to their ears, but they have to change 
their life plans, their career plans, because of this indebtedness and 
the fact that their degrees are virtually worthless.
  I met some of these young people. They sadly tell the story of living 
in their parents' basement because they had no alternative with the 
debt they incurred in these worthless for-profit schools. That is the 
reality. The sad part, the tragic part, the infuriating part is that 
the owners of these for-profit operations take all that money from 
student loans, offer nothing in return by way of education, and 
eventually, when they go bankrupt--and they virtually all do--they end 
up off the hook. They don't have any personal liability.
  I have been calling for greater scrutiny of for-profit colleges for 
more than 10 years on the floor of the Senate. Aside from flying in the 
face of providing a high-quality postsecondary education, these for-
profit colleges are costing taxpayers millions of dollars. Despite 
well-documented misconduct, for-profit colleges received more than $14 
billion--$14 billion--in Federal student aid in the 2022 to 2023 school 
year--$14 billion from the Federal Government.
  That is why today I am once again sending a warning letter, for the 
11th consecutive year in a row. I am sending it to every high school in 
my State asking them to ensure students receive accurate information 
about the college they want to attend, including the risks associated 
with attending a for-profit college.
  I wondered when I first sent that letter out whether anyone would 
even open the envelope and if they did, would it mean anything. It is 
amazing. These schools tell me: Thank you for doing this. It is a 
reminder, and we put right in front of the students and say, ``The 
Senator sends a letter each year to warn us about these schools. Be 
careful.''
  These for-profit schools undermine all the work and resources high 
schools devote to students, and warnings to avoid them can be the 
difference between a successful future and one saddled with a lifetime 
of student debt.
  I urge my colleagues, join me in sending a letter to high schools in 
your State warning kids who are being inundated with advertising by 
for-profit schools that they may not be making the right decision if 
they head in that direction.
  It is long past time that we hold for-profits accountable for the 
pain they are inflicting on our kids. They are exploiting our students 
and enriching themselves. Let's make sure that no young person gets 
conned into attending a duplicitous, profit-driven institution.
  What percentage of high school graduates end up at for-profit 
colleges? That is right. Eight percent. And what percentage of student 
loan defaults are for students at for-profit colleges? Thirty percent. 
Eight and thirty, those two numbers tell the story.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Hickenlooper). The Republican whip.