Dive Brief:

• The Education Department will terminate the oversight duties of law firm Hogan Marren Babbo & Rose following an Associated Press investigation that highlighted conflicts of interest in its monitoring of former Corinthian Colleges Inc., campuses run by Zenith Education Group.
• The Associated Press reports the law firm was tasked with being the Department of Education’s eyes and ears on the ground, reviewing marketing and recruitment efforts to ensure Zenith did not repeat the mistakes of its predecessor.
• The department plans to hire a new monitor that is not so cozy with for-profit colleges in general or Zenith, specifically, but has not indicated yet which firm or organization that might be.

Dive Insight:

The Department of Education has been excoriated by some politicians, including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, for being too soft on for-profit colleges, even after contributing to a significant shift in the way for-profits are regulated. Warren is among those who believe the department is not fulfilling its obligation to students. Students who attend for-profit colleges are more likely than their peers in the nonprofit sector to default on their loans and they are accused of overcharging students for degree programs that do not prepare them for jobs.

The Associated Press investigation followed up on former Corinthian campuses one year after they were taken over by Education Credit Management Corp., or ECMC. Had all of those campuses closed instead of been transferred to new management, the Department of Education could have been on the hook for more millions in student loans.