For-profit colleges hit again in Senate hearings

[Bozita]

Source: AP

Last Updated: September 30. 2010 6:42PM
For-profit colleges hit again in Senate hearings
Eric Gorski / Associated Press

A career adviser at a large for-profit college, testifying Thursday before a Senate committee, said her employer used "tricks and sleight of hand" to exaggerate job placement statistics given to prospective students.

The latest in a series of hearings scrutinizing for-profit higher education also produced the most intense partisan finger-pointing to date and new data claiming many schools are a revolving door of dropouts and new recruits.

Kathleen Bittel, who works in career services for Education Management Corp.'s Art Institutes, told the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions she was instructed in how to manipulate data to falsely show graduates were "gainfully employed" in their area of training.

In a statement, Pittsburgh-based EDMC said in-house and outside investigations found no support for Bittel's claims of undue pressure on career advisers. The company said it has multiple checks in place to ensure accurate data.

Read more: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100930/SCHOOLS/9300496/1361/For-profit-colleges-hit-again-in-Senate-hearings#ixzz114FQLW6e

[harun]

1. Corruption for profit, say it aint so!

[applegrove]

2. I went to one of those for-profit colleges in Montreal. On registration day they

bussed in a whole host of sales people who were just after money. They didn't know the first thing about the courses. It was so awful after experiencing public institutions.

[Frank Booth]

3. Not to defend the for-profit schools, which need to be severely regulated,

but regular colleges and universities fudge their numbers all the time to move up on the US News rankings.

I know, for example, that law schools overstate the percentage of students employed at graduation.

[6000eliot]

7. And what is being proposed would hold for-profit schools to a different standard.

[Javaman]

9. At UT, they have started making it more difficult for native Texans to attend...

they make more money off of out of state and foreign students.

[supernova]

4. A former boss signed up for Phoenix!

:rofl:

I hope they milk the sob for all this person is worth.

[onpatrol98]

5. LOL

[defendandprotect]

6. Thanks -- will try to catch Hearings on C-span ....!!!

[TexasObserver]

8. They're factories that create jobs - for those who work for them.

They appear to exploit laws designed to help real students pursue a real education.