Today, Republican Leader of the Education and Labor Committee Virginia Foxx (R-NC) joined Congressman Fred Keller (R-PA) sent a letter to Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona raising concerns about delays, in some cases over a year, in applications submitted by institutions of higher education to convert from proprietary institutions to nonprofit status or undergo a change in ownership. According to a recent report issued by the Department, a workgroup is in place to help process requests from institutions wishing to convert, though significant delays still persist.
In the letter, the Members write: “While we appreciate the Department working to improve the thoroughness of its review, there still appears to be a significant delay in that review. For example, several anecdotal reports suggest that the Department is spending over a year to process post-transaction change of control applications. Further, this Spring, an institution saw its post-transaction conversion request denied five years after its initial request was submitted to the Department."
The Members continue: “The Department must process all change of control applications, including conversion applications, within a reasonable time. Forcing institutions to wait for years unnecessarily impedes their ability to serve students and has a chilling effect on mergers and acquisitions in the higher education industry."
Read the full letter to Secretary Cardona here.
