Political Quotes

“back in 2017, Dream Center Education Holdings, the spinoff of a Christian charity with no previous experience in higher education, announced its intention to acquire the campuses of the failing for-profit giant Education Management Corporation, EDMC, and convert them to nonprofit status. Among EDMC's most notable brands were the Art Institutes and Argosy University. I joined several of my Senate colleagues at the time, raising concerns about Dream Center's ability to effectively manage this higher education enterprise in the best interests of students and taxpayers. Despite our concerns, Secretary DeVos's Department of Education gave its preliminary approval to the transaction in October 2017, without conditioning that approval on any restrictions or protections for students and taxpayers. The Department's failure to protect students and taxpayers at this critical juncture set up a chain of events that left thousands of students harmed and millions in taxpayer dollars wasted. In November 2017, as part of its own approval of that transaction, the Higher Learning Commission, HLC, removed accreditation from Dream Center's newly acquired Art Institute of Colorado and the Illinois Institute of Art effective January 20, 2018. HLC transitioned these schools to ``candidates for accreditation,'' during which time they could still receive Title IV funds.…”