President Donald Trump stopped by Florida National University, a for-profit college near Miami, to tout the tax bill, H.R. 1 (115), Congress passed last year. Trump noted that today is Tax Day and said it’s “the last time we draw up that long, complicated, horrible return.” He also said that “this country is starting to rock” after the tax bill. Trump then headed to Mar-a-Lago.
– Speaking of for-profits: A progressive think tank is suing the Education Department to force the agency to turn over documents related to for-profit college conversions to nonprofits. The Century Foundation has filed a lawsuit asking a federal judge to order the department to release records related to the recent purchases of for-profit colleges Education Management Corporation and Kaplan by the Dream Center, a California-based nonprofit, and Purdue University. Both purchases were approved by DeVos. The Century Foundation’s Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of New York, says the group is seeking communications between the department and officials in the colleges.
– Such conversions have become more common – and they’ve drawn increased scrutiny. Three Senate Democrats earlier this month urged the Government Accountability Office to investigate the trend of for-profit colleges attempting to convert to nonprofits. The senators cited Ashford University’s announcement last month that it plans to seek a nonprofit conversion.