For-profit colleges, though they purport to provide valuable services to students looking to enter the workforce, are showing their true colors as they continue to lobby for decreased government oversight. Now that the federal government is attempting to hold for-profit schools liable for their tendency to leave students in massive debt and use funding in unorthodox ways, these universities are attempting to fight back against the same federal government that so heavily subsidized them in the first place.
According to The Huffington Post, representatives of the for-profit college industry have been collaborating via e-mail on lobbying plans, notably in the aftermath of the federal budget decision that didn’t include the special provision that would protect them from government interference. The amount of money these leaders spend has gone up from $3.3 million in 2009 to $8.1 million in 2010 as administrators and other for-profit school leaders become increasingly wary of the government’s potential supervision. Education at these institutions has become secondary for these fraudulent lobbyists who see dollars signs in the windows of their unregulated money machines.
The Obama Administration’s idea to ensure federal regulation of these institutions is wise, especially because the president has made an effort to revamp the education system and challenge both teachers and students to step up. In for-profit schools, students are taken advantage of and don’t have the opportunity to accomplish what they want if it doesn’t correlate with the school’s financial gain. As Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said at a Senate hearing in the fall of 2010, “Going to college should not be like going to a casino, where the odds are stacked against you and the house always wins.”
While some for-profit advocates argue that the consequences of government interference could be dire for students, preventing them from getting a good education, an education is hardly legitimate if it’s administered on the basis of profit. As lobbyists continue to fight for less governmental interference, they should be obstructed so as to ensure the field of secondary education is as objective as it can be.
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