Sen. Harkin: For-profit colleges' dropout rates tops 50%
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Discussion PolicyBy Nick Anderson
Thursday, September 30, 2010; 8:14 PMA leading Senate Democrat said Thursday that data obtained from a sampling of for-profit colleges show that more than half of their students drop out without earning a degree or certificate.
Industry officials immediately disputed the analysis, which Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) released during a hearing on for-profit colleges that Republicans called unfair and one-sided. The Obama administration is attempting to tighten regulation of the industry, which relies on federal student aid for much of its revenue.
"The bottom line is this: For students enrolling in for-profit schools, graduation with a degree is a possibility, but debt without a diploma is a probability," said Harkin, chairman of the Committee on Health,