Students hung out to dry when 30 remaining Corinthian colleges shuttered last week will lose all or most of their credits, leaving 15,000 students in dire straits. Many will not be able to transfer most, if any, of their credits to new institutions. Some were just days away from finishing their certifications.
In a blog post, Education Undersecretary Ted Mitchell wrote that the department's "first and most pressing concern is for the students who were enrolled." He promised aggressive outreach to "ensure that students have options to continue their education."
But the Department of Education may have added to the confusion, the LA Times reports, when it listed other troubled for-profit schools as rescue options for students.
"Among those listed: ITT Technical Institute, which was sued by the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau last year for saddling students with high-interest loans, and Westwood College, which paid $4.5 million to settle charges from the Colorado attorney general's office that it misled students by inflating job placement rates."
Students saddled with debt will now be forced to make a tough choice.
"Through the Department of Education's closed school discharge," NBC reports, "current students and others who withdrew within the past 120 days can apply to have their federal student loans dismissed but only if they don't transfer their credits and complete a comparable program at another school."
None of this would have been necessary, The Wall Street Journal argued in a Monday editorial. The Journal argues that the investigation and fines for misrepresenting job placement, which spurred the crisis, were almost entirely clerical errors and did not represent systematic abuse.
"Earlier this month," The Journal wrote, "DoE fined Corinthian $30 million for misrepresenting job placement rates of roughly 900 students at 12 schools since 2007. Most alleged violations were paperwork errors and misrepresented Corinthians systemic compliance. In 2010, Corinthian enrolled 110,000 at 100 some schools, which were in good standing with accreditors until last summer."
"The penalty scared away prospective buyers and pushed Corinthian over the cliff. Department Under Secretary Ted Mitchell claims that the 'closure decision was made by the company,' though the government deliberately pushed Corinthian to the precipice," The Journal concluded.
In a blog post, Education Undersecretary Ted Mitchell wrote that the department's "first and most pressing concern is for the students who were enrolled." He promised aggressive outreach to "ensure that students have options to continue their education."
But the Department of Education may have added to the confusion, the LA Times reports, when it listed other troubled for-profit schools as rescue options for students.
"Among those listed: ITT Technical Institute, which was sued by the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau last year for saddling students with high-interest loans, and Westwood College, which paid $4.5 million to settle charges from the Colorado attorney general's office that it misled students by inflating job placement rates."
Students saddled with debt will now be forced to make a tough choice.
"Through the Department of Education's closed school discharge," NBC reports, "current students and others who withdrew within the past 120 days can apply to have their federal student loans dismissed but only if they don't transfer their credits and complete a comparable program at another school."
None of this would have been necessary, The Wall Street Journal argued in a Monday editorial. The Journal argues that the investigation and fines for misrepresenting job placement, which spurred the crisis, were almost entirely clerical errors and did not represent systematic abuse.
"Earlier this month," The Journal wrote, "DoE fined Corinthian $30 million for misrepresenting job placement rates of roughly 900 students at 12 schools since 2007. Most alleged violations were paperwork errors and misrepresented Corinthians systemic compliance. In 2010, Corinthian enrolled 110,000 at 100 some schools, which were in good standing with accreditors until last summer."
"The penalty scared away prospective buyers and pushed Corinthian over the cliff. Department Under Secretary Ted Mitchell claims that the 'closure decision was made by the company,' though the government deliberately pushed Corinthian to the precipice," The Journal concluded.
