Dive Brief:

• Alejandro Amor, founder of FastTrain, recently received an eight year sentence for fraud, representing the most extreme punishment handed down as part of the recent crackdown on for-profit institutions.

• Investigators found FastTrain admissions employees had forged signatures and enrolled over one thousand students who were not even high school graduates.

• FastTrain had banked over $35 million in federal funds.

Dive Insight:

While criminal charges in investigations against for-profit colleges are rare, scrutiny of these institutions is increasing. In a Brookings report released last June, it was found that 28 for-profit education providers were under federal investigation, including the well-known players behind the University of Phoenix, DeVry and ITT.

Regardless of whether the increased focus on for-profit regulation continues with the next administration, the precedence of federal prison time should serve as a warning to for-profit administrators to steer clear of any activity that could is deceptive, misleading or exploitative in nature and to further review the qualifications of any students enrolled.