Dick Durbin: “I thank Senator Murphy for his comments. I will tell you that it is interesting to me that when you take a look at what…”

“I thank Senator Murphy for his comments. I will tell you that it is interesting to me that when you take a look at what Wall Street thinks about the for-profit colleges and universities, they are certainly bearish. You would think from what Congress is doing--sending billions of dollars to this industry and propping it up--we are bullish. Take a look at the stock prices of the major for-profit colleges and universities since 2010. The University of Phoenix went from a high of $57 a share down to $7.50. This was after the Department of Defense suspended their activities under the GI bill. ITT Tech--a high of $92 a share in 2011 and they now trade at $3 a share. Career Education was $20 a share in 2011 and was $3.80 yesterday. Education Management Corporation withdrew their stock from NASDAQ so they would not have to make reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission. In 2014, they lost $684 million. This is an industry which is failing as a business, but sadly it is dragging along students and families and taxpayers with it. That is why we have to come to grips. I endorse your idea. Apply the standards across higher education, to for-profit and not-for-profit. I can tell you, these for-profits cannot live with that standard. Thank you, Senator Murphy. I thank Senator Blumenthal from Connecticut for joining me.”