Lawmakers probe oversight of for-profit college conversions to nonprofit status – Higher Ed Dive

Dive Brief:

• Congressional lawmakers questioned a panel of higher ed experts during a hearing Tuesday about the oversight of for-profit colleges that convert to nonprofit status.
• The hearing was held in response to a report earlier this year from the U.S. Government Accountability Office that found conflicts of interest in a third of such transactions over the last decade. The report was spurred by a request from several Democratic lawmakers.
• The hearing included discussion of the power the U.S. Department of Education can exercise over these conversions, which have grown in number in recent years.

Dive Insight:
Several for-profit college operators have in recent years sought nonprofit status to circumvent regulations targeting the sector. The Ed Department has largely allowed the changes.

These include the sale of the for-profit Ashford University to the public University of Arizona, and of the for-profit Kaplan University to the public Purdue University, in Indiana. Both purchasing colleges were seeking to expand their online programs.

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