WASHINGTON, D.C. - A new report raises significant concerns about the return on federal investment in financial aid at for-profit colleges and universities. The report, titled “Emerging Risk?: An Overview of Growth, Spending, Student Debt and Unanswered Questions in For-Profit Higher Education," was unveiled today by the Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA). Later today, the Committee will conduct its first oversight hearing on the matter.
“For-profit schools are an important part of the mix of postsecondary institutions. They increase access to higher education for students managing work and family obligations," said Harkin. “However, the limited amount of publicly available data reviewed in this report shows an alarming trend in this industry.
“Taxpayers are investing billions of dollars in for-profit colleges, yet student debt and default rates at these schools are disproportionally higher than at non-profit and public universities. This data begs for oversight of this industry, which will begin with our first hearing today."
Among the highlights of the report:
For-profits have experienced rapid growth and increasing profits:
While taxpayer dollars helped propel the industry forward:
Yet spending allocations are questionable:
While students depart and default:
A copy of the full report can be found here.
