There are few things more corrupt than the for-profit education industry, and the corruption is on both sides of the aisle. This may not be illegal, but it’s not exactly kosher, either:
As the Obama administration cracks down on for-profit colleges, three former officials working on behalf of an investment firm run by President Barack Obama’s best friend have staged a behind-the-scenes campaign to get the Education Department to green-light a purchase of the biggest for-profit of them all — the University of Phoenix.
The investors include a private equity firm founded and run by longtime Obama friend Marty Nesbitt and former Deputy Education Secretary Tony Miller. The firm, Chicago-based Vistria Group, has mounted a charm offensive on Capitol Hill to talk up the proposed sale of the troubled for-profit education giant, which receives more than $2 billion a year in taxpayer money but is under investigation by three state attorneys general and the FTC.
What stands out about the proposed deal is that several key players are either close to top administration officials, including the president himself, or are former administration insiders — especially Miller, who was part of the effort to more tightly regulate for-profit colleges at the very agency now charged with approving the ownership change. For-profit college officials have likened those rules to a war on the industry, and blame the administration for contributing to their declining enrollments and share prices.
There’s been talk of cutting off the federal money to any of these colleges who don’t meet certain standards, including the acceptance of their degrees in the marketplace. I wonder if it will ever happen.
Obama’s always been a corporate tool. I know we’re not supposed to say that these days, but, well, he has. Mr. majorities-in-both-Houses-for-first-two-years-but-I’ll-wait-till-I-lose-it-and-then-moan-about-obstruction.
Clinton is, I hear, preparing all sorts of legislation that sounds good so she can hit the ground running if enough of us are smart enough to see her elected in November. And if we’re also smart enough to give her a clean sweep of Congress, it’ll be interesting to see if she also sits on her hands for two years. I hope not.
It’s the disappointment I’d feel in that case that makes me sympathetic enough to people who pinned their hopes on BigO to not tell them what I think.