Lawmakers Respond to Century Foundation's "Covert For-Profit" Report, Ask for Immediate Action

 

Last week, seven senators including Sherrod Brown (OH), Elizabeth Warren (MA) and minority whip Richard Durbin (IL) sent a letter to Department of Education secretary Arne Duncan and Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen urging them to take swift action against possibly fraudulent for-profit education companies:

 

“As the agencies responsible for granting non-profit, tax exempt status and protecting students, the Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Department of Education must work together to better assess these conversions based on the priorities and authority of both agencies.”

 

This call to action came in response to TCF senior fellow Robert Shireman's report, The Covert For-Profit: How College Owners Escape Oversight through a Regulatory Blind Spot, that exposes for-profit colleges that claim nonprofit status yet do not follow the norms of nonprofit governance, putting financial gain ahead of students’ best interests. 

 

Visit website for full report.