Betsy DeVos to the rescue: For-profit colleges see a savior in secretary
The rejection letter was harsh.
Page after page, an accrediting agency ticked off all the problems at Virginia College, a large chain of for-profit schools with dwindling enrollment. There would be no seal of approval, the accreditor declared, no imprimatur necessary to participate in the federal student loan program that is the lifeblood of most colleges and universities.
But it turned out that Virginia College — and other for-profit schools — had a friend in high places.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has led a rescue squad for the nation’s for-profit colleges. Step by step, she has dismantled an Obama-era crackdown on the industry, and she plans to deliver a set of regulations next year that many expect to again boost the industry.
Critics say these schools, which enroll 2.3 million students and range from small trade schools to large multistate enterprises such as the University of Phoenix, prey on vulnerable students, leaving them with huge debts and questionable credentials. Defenders say they offer critical options, especially for students not in traditional four-year programs, and were unfairly singled out for scrutiny by the Obama administration.
“If it’s the right fit for the student, then it’s the right education,” DeVos said in a speech this summer.
DeVos’s systematic rollback of regulations on these schools reflects the broader Trump administration agenda. The administration has undone environmental rules meant to control carbon emissions and unraveled pieces of the Affordable Care Act. At rallies this fall, President Trump regularly bragged about regulatory retrenchment.
At the Education Department, DeVos has long believed the federal government should exercise as little control as possible over the nation’s schools, and she has spent a large chunk of her tenure undoing the work of her predecessors. She has revoked guidelines on affirmative action and transgender students, and is expected to cancel guidance regarding racial bias in school discipline. Continue reading: Betsy DeVos to the rescue: For-profit colleges see a savior in secretary - The Washington Post