For-Profit Colleges Need Stronger Oversight From States: Report

This is a very serious problem. The problem is the states do not seem to be prepared to handle this oversight. I would hope that the Feds would provide some guidelines that all states would have to follow. I believe there should also be a annual or bi-annual audit of a random select of schools to look for irregularities.

The federal government has moved to crack down on aggressive recruiting and crippling student debt levels at for-profit colleges over the past two years, yet major inconsistencies exist in the way state governments protect students from being deceived by unscrupulous institutions, according to a report released Thursday.

The report from the National Consumer Law Center found that many state higher-education departments lack adequate resources to follow up on student complaints on such issues as overstated promises about career placement or troubles with financial aid and billing. Oversight bodies in several states are also stocked with representatives of the for-profit college industry -- a conflict of interest that "can seriously undermine state efforts to protect consumers," according to the report.

As for-profit colleges have expanded dramatically over the last decade, with many becoming publicly traded national corporations offering online courses only, the variations in oversight across state lines create an uneven playing field for students.

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