Dive Brief:
- Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin (D) is crusading to help students displaced by for-profit closures to find financial relief and new schools to resume their educations, following the suspension of its accreditation last April.
- In an interview with ABC 7 in Chicago, Sen. Durbin says he is working with officials from the Department of Education and the Veterans Administration to reestablish student loan eligibility, and to help students re-enroll in new schools.
- According to Durbin, there is some research suggesting for-profit graduates make less than high school dropouts.
Dive Insight:
For-profit fallout is an excellent area of focus for political capital; it speaks to a wide range of people with varying backgrounds, who are united by the principle of being extorted by a big, predatory corporation. But the key in remedying for-profit casualties, who were not forced into enrolling or taking out loans at those schools, is for traditional or credentialing academies to seek partnerships with legislators in creating pathways of transfer or enrollment.
Federal lawmakers will have an easier time of championing new entry points for displaced students, particularly in the last days of the Obama White House and its approach to for-profit disruption and solutions in more traditional or innovative learning settings.
