On the recordMarch 12, 2015
I have been coming to this floor for a long time. The Presiding Officer is new to the body so I know he has been spared my speeches on the subject talking about for-profit colleges. This is an industry that lures students with flashy ads and misleading promises, gobbles up the Federal loan and grant money these students can bring to them and then ends up producing students--if they are lucky enough to get a diploma--who can't find good-paying jobs. To understand the for-profit college industry in America today, you only need to know three numbers--and for those who are listening, this will be on the final. Here are the three numbers: For-profit colleges enroll ten percent of college students in the United States of America. When you think of for-profit colleges, think of University of Phoenix, DeVry, Kaplan. There are a lot of them. Ten percent of college students go to these schools. These schools, the for-profit schools, receive 20 percent of the Federal aid to education. Why do they get so much if they only have 10 percent of the students? They charge so much. Their tuition goes through the roof. Ten percent of the students, 20 percent of the Federal aid to education. But this is the number I don't want you to forget--44. Forty-four percent of all student loan defaults are students of for- profit schools. What does that tell us? It tells us these students are getting in over their heads. They are borrowing too much money.…
