The Trump administration is all in on for-profit colleges—but even with the governmental trade winds at its back, the industry is still struggling to find its footing amidst mass campus closures and plunging enrollment.
More than 100 for-profit schools have closed in recent years, including major chains like ITT Technical Institute and Corinthian Colleges, leaving thousands of students in the lurch, stuck with worthless credits, and mountains of debt, prompting new regulations on the industry. Now another group of for-profit college campuses will close, with Education Corporation of America shutting down 26 of its 82 locations by 2020.
The move comes as for-profit colleges struggle for survival in an era of increased scrutiny. ECA is just one of a number of chains to fully or partially close or sell out to a competitor despite the support of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos who has worked to roll back Obama-era regulations aimed at the for-profit sector by weakening financial accountability measures designed to refund students defrauded by schools; squashed investigations into the troubled industry; and appointed former for-profit insiders to lead the Education Department’s fraudulent investigations arm.