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Eugene

(61,881 posts)
Wed Oct 23, 2019, 10:18 AM Oct 2019

Trump administration let nearly $11 million in student aid go to unaccredited for-profit colleges

Source: Washington Post

Trump administration let nearly $11 million in student aid go to unaccredited for-profit colleges

By Danielle Douglas-Gabriel
Oct. 22, 2019 at 9:25 p.m. EDT

A trove of documents released Tuesday by the House Education and Labor Committee shows the Education Department provided $10.7 million in federal loans and grants to students at the Illinois Institute of Art and the Art Institute of Colorado even though officials knew the for-profit colleges were not accredited and ineligible to receive such aid.

The documents build on prior reports from the committee describing efforts by Education Department officials to shield Dream Center Education Holdings, owner of the Art Institutes and Argosy University, from the consequences of lying to students about the accreditation of its since-closed schools. Now it appears the Education Department tried to shield itself from an ill-fated decision to allow millions of dollars to flow to those schools.

Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-Va.), chairman of the House Education Committee, is threatening to subpoena Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for more documents related to the department’s role in Dream Center’s actions. Scott says the agency has obstructed the committee’s investigation and refused to answer questions, as emails and letters paint a picture of a federal agency complicit in an effort to place profits before students.

The agency defended its actions.

“It seems to us that the chairman is cherry-picking facts and lacking important context,” said Angela Morabito, a spokeswoman for the Education Department. “The department maintains that it acted in the best interest of students and has continued to act in the best interest of students.”

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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/10/22/trump-administration-let-nearly-million-student-aid-go-unaccredited-for-profit-colleges/
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