On the recordApril 2, 2019
Mr. President, I rise today to join my colleague from Illinois, Senator Durbin, to discuss the work we are doing to protect students and taxpayers from predatory higher education practices. I want to thank Senator Durbin for his incredible and steadfast leadership on this issue. All hard-working students deserve the opportunity to receive a quality education that will prepare them to compete in this 21st- century economy. Education is the cornerstone of expanding opportunity, and it is vital that we ensure that more students have access to quality, affordable higher education that will help them thrive. Unfortunately, too often, hard-working students, including our veterans and servicemembers, are taken advantage of by predatory for- profit colleges. We have seen this issue time and again. Years ago, we witnessed the collapse of Corinthian Colleges, Inc., and ITT Tech. Recently, we saw the collapses of Education Corporation of America, Vatterott College, and Dream Center Education Holdings. Students attended these institutions with the hope of furthering their education and building better lives for themselves and their families. In reality, though, these companies were raking in billions of taxpayer funds that enriched their executives and investors, all while their students were receiving subpar degrees at high costs even though they were often recruited with the promise of a good-paying job after graduation.…





