Durbin Calls Out Department of Education for Including Other For-Profit Colleges Under Investigation as "Viable" Transfer Options for Corinthian Students
Durbin set to meet with Secretary Duncan on Thursday in Washington
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called out the Department of Education for suggesting students that have been harmed by the collapse of Corinthian Colleges, Inc. transfer to other for-profit companies – including Westwood College, ITT Tech, Education Management Corporation’s The Arts Institutes and Argosy, and Career Education Corporation’s Le Cordon Bleu and International Academy of Design and Technology – that are under investigation by multiple federal and state agencies.
“Has the Department of Education learned nothing? How in good faith can they tell these Corinthian students – who just had their college disappear and are sitting on a pile of debt – that these are viable transfer options for their students?” Durbin asked. “A move like this leads me to the sad conclusion that the Department of Education is out of touch with reality.”
The Department of Education has published transfer options for students at the 28 Corinthian campuses that closed yesterday. However, the Department of Education has failed to warn students up-front that if these students use their Corinthian credits to transfer to another institution they will most likely not be eligible to discharge their Corinthian debt and may have to pay back their discharged loans if they transfer after receiving a discharge.
“Why hasn’t the U.S. Department of Education blown the whistle on Corinthian and every other school that’s exploiting students?” Durbin continued. “At the end of the day, the losers are not only the students who have wasted their time and end up with debt, but also the taxpayers of America. I call on the Department of Education to put as their highest priority the casualties and victims of Corinthian Colleges, Inc.”
The Department’s list of “viable” transfer options for students at these closed Corinthian campuses include other for-profit colleges, many that have been found to engage in or are being accused of the very practices that Corinthian has become famous for. Here are just a few examples from the Department’s lists for students:
- ITT Tech which has been sued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) for predatory lending, is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and 16 state Attorneys General, and on the Department of Education’s Heightened Cash Monitoring list
- Le Cordon Bleu and International Academy of Design and Technology whose parent company, Career Education Corporation, is under investigation by 17 state Attorneys General and is on the Department of Education’s Heightened Cash Monitoring list.
- The Art Institutes and Argosy whose parent company Education Management Corporation is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice and 17 state Attorneys General and appear on the Department of Education’s Heightened Cash Monitoring list.
- Westwood College which is being sued by the Illinois Attorney General for deceptive recruiting practices
- DeVry University which is under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission and two state Attorneys General
- University of Phoenix whose parent company Apollo is being investigated by two state Attorneys General
- Kaplan University which is under investigation by three state Attorneys General