Betsy DeVos to the rescue: For-profit colleges see a savior in secretary

By Laura Meckler November 23 at 6:58 PM

-snip-

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has led a rescue squad for the nation’s for-profit colleges. Step by step, she has dismantled an Obama-era crackdown on the industry, and she plans to deliver a set of regulations next year that many expect to again boost the industry.

Critics say these schools, which enroll 2.3 million students and range from small trade schools to large multistate enterprises such as the University of Phoenix, prey on vulnerable students, leaving them with huge debts and questionable credentials. Defenders say they offer critical options, especially for students not in traditional four-year programs, and were unfairly singled out for scrutiny by the Obama administration.

-snip-

Now, DeVos is poised to build a legacy of her own — creating new rules for schools and not just jettisoning regulations in place when she arrived. Her goal, aides say, is to encourage innovation by letting new players into the federal student loan program who are barred by today’s regulations, and eliminating or modifying requirements that no longer make sense.

That could benefit a fresh crop of for-profit programs such as computer coding boot camps and online courses in which students interact less with their teachers.

-snip-