WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) was joined by U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and U.S. Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) in releasing the following statements regarding the Department of Education’s final gainful employment rule:


“For-profit colleges need to wake up and start thinking as much about the quality of education they deliver as they do about their profits,” said Murphy. “As a member of the HELP Committee, I have worked with the Chairman and Senator Durbin to ensure that students get value for the money that they pay. This rule is a step in the right direction, but a lot more needs to be done, especially to prevent schools from offering programs that are designed to create profits for investors instead of real job skills for students. Predatory, profit-first practices are far too rampant within the industry, and the federal government can’t sit back and let for-profit colleges get away with these practices. This step toward accountability and oversight is a welcome change, but Congress needs to assure it's only a first step.”


“As Chairman of the HELP Committee, I led a two-year investigation to determine if students attending for-profit colleges were being offered a path to gainful employment as required by law,” Harkin said.‎ “The investigation showed that high-cost, for-profit colleges are leaving millions of students with high debt but questionable earning power, and that more than half of those students were left with no degree or diploma and no improved prospect of gainful employment.  Today’s action by the Department of Education seeks to address the first problem, but does little to ensure that colleges stop offering poor quality programs where most of the students drop out. While I commend the Administration for finalizing this rule that holds accountable those career education programs that graduate students with high debt without the earning power to pay it, this rule does nothing to stop schools from offering, and our most at-risk students from enrolling in, programs where most students fail and default.”

Continued Harkin, “This rule is a first step, but much more needs to be done to ensure that colleges put the interest of students above shareholders.  While this rule and the decision to formalize a task force are steps in the right direction, Congress must strengthen the laws on the books to better protect students and taxpayers.  In the meantime, I urge the Administration to use all available resources at hand to preserve the integrity of our federal student financial aid system.”


“The collapse of Corinthian Colleges was the canary in the coal mine for the for-profit college industry.  I hope today’s announcement of a federal task force on for-profit colleges, like the one we proposed in our legislation, signals a new level of commitment from this Administration to take on serious oversight of this industry before another company reaches the breaking point,” said Durbin, author of the Proprietary Education Oversight Coordination Improvement Act. “Information sharing and better coordination between federal agencies and state attorneys general will help regulators prevent the ongoing fraudulent and abusive practices of this industry.  While not as strong as I would have written, the final gainful employment rule, along with measures like the task force, will bring badly needed additional scrutiny to this industry.”

“For-profit colleges should prepare students for success in their careers and provide a high-quality education, not just boost profits for their shareholders,” Cummings said. "When I attended the final rulemaking session for this rule, I emphasized the importance of firm but fair oversight, and while today's rule represents progress, it does not go far enough. These companies are quick to pat themselves on the back for their professed support of low-income and minority students but all too often send them out the door with huge debt, no degree and diminished hope for what they thought was a bright future.”


“I applaud the Department of Education for taking action to shine a light on this sector, and I am hopeful that the task force also announced today will foster best practices and provide clarity for all of these schools and those that attend them,” Cummings added. “Stronger oversight of for-profit colleges is long overdue.”


The HELP Committee released a report on the findings of a two-year investigation of the for-profit higher education industry, which would be subject to the gainful employment rule along with other career training programs.  The 2012 report showed that for-profit colleges accounted for approximately 12 percent of students, yet consumed almost 25 percent of the federal financial aid budget and accounted for almost half of all student loan defaults.