During remarks on the Senate floor, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) spoke about for-profit universities that encourage students to take out large student loans.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 Mr. President, today is May 1st.
00:03 For many students, this is College Decision Day,
00:07 about the time when they have to commit for next year's school year
00:11 to pave a pathway for a better future.
00:15 For a Chicagoan, Lakeisha Howard Williams,
00:18 a straight-A student who dreamed of attending college to pursue art,
00:22 this was certainly the case.
00:24 Lakeisha was accepted to a non-profit college outside of Chicago,
00:30 but she decided to move back home and transfer to a community college near her home.
00:35 Sadly, her parents lost their home during the 2008 recession,
00:39 and shortly after she moved back, her father passed away.
00:43 Lakeisha's family was struggling, and she eventually left community college to go to work.
00:48 But after some time in a low-paying job without a college degree,
00:52 Lakeisha decided to go back to school to finish her education.
00:56 However, her family could not afford to send her to a prestigious arts college.
01:01 As she began researching scholarships,
01:03 Lakeisha was flooded with brochures for a for-profit college,
01:08 the Illinois Institute of Art.
01:11 Mr. President, I don't have to tell you that that is a term and a name
01:16 that is close to the actual Illinois Art Institute,
01:20 which is a well-known and respected institution.
01:23 But this Illinois Institute of Art was a lot different.
01:27 After being heavily pursued by the Illinois Institute of Art,
01:30 Lakeisha applied to it.
01:32 They accepted her within days of her application
01:35 and immediately encouraged her to take out student loans.
01:39 This was the first sign of foul play.
01:42 Her family was hesitant to see their daughter assume this kind of debt,
01:47 but the school assured her it would be "well worth it."
01:51 So she took out the loans so she could enroll
01:54 in this phony Illinois Institute of Art.
01:58 Although disappointed by the quality of her instructors and coursework,
02:02 she was determined she was going to finish and get a degree.
02:05 But as the weeks went by, more and more red flags appeared.
02:09 In 2017, an organization called Dream Center bought the school
02:13 and promised an even better education.
02:16 But things didn't improve for Lakeisha.
02:19 Then the school's president left suddenly, and the staff disappeared.
02:24 The final red flag? The school lost its accreditation,
02:28 something it hid from the students for six months.
02:31 Then it suddenly announced it was going to close at the end of the year.
02:35 Lakeisha was able to transfer, but before moving to a better quality school,
02:40 she estimates she would have more than $70,000 in student loans
02:44 from the Illinois Institute of Art.
02:47 Unfortunately, Lakeisha is far from the only student who has been duped
02:51 and deceived by the predatory for-profit college industry.
02:55 For years, for-profit colleges have lined their pockets
02:59 at the expense of students and taxpayers.
03:01 These organizations mislead students into enrolling in programs
03:05 that offer low-quality instruction, substandard job prospects,
03:09 non-transferable course credits, and a worthless degree.
03:14 Even more sickening, they deliberately target the most vulnerable--
03:18 low-income students, first-generation students, veterans, students of color.
03:24 They go after them with aggressive marketing tactics
03:27 and promises of well-paying jobs.
03:30 I'm going to give you two numbers, Mr. President.
03:33 I warn you in advance that these two numbers are both going to be on the finals,
03:37 so listen carefully.
03:39 Although for-profit colleges enroll only 8%--
03:43 8% of America's college students,
03:47 they account for 30% of federal student loan defaults.
03:52 8% of the students, 30% of the student loan defaults.
03:56 How does this happen?
03:58 Well, after aggressively marketing themselves,
04:00 for-profit colleges pressure students to take on as much debt as possible
04:04 to pay for courses that would cost far less at a community college
04:08 or even a four-year university.
04:11 And once students enroll and are on the hook for huge amounts of debts,
04:15 the schools provide low-quality education and little support.
04:20 If they manage to graduate, students end up with degrees
04:22 that are practically worthless,
04:25 working jobs that could have been hired for prior to enrolling,
04:29 and struggling to pay back a crippling debt.
04:32 Extensive investigations have revealed deception of some of the worst actors.
04:38 But this morning, the Department of Education announced
04:41 $6.1 billion in student loan discharges for 317,000 students
04:46 who attended the Art Institutes.
04:49 317,000, including Lakeisha.
04:53 In Illinois alone, nearly 13,000 students will see more than $250 million
04:58 in borrower defense charges--discharges.
05:01 In its investigation, the department found that the Art Institutes
05:04 misrepresented their employment rates to the prospective students.
05:08 Imagine, if you will, a student with a family that has never had anyone go to college,
05:15 knows just in the vaguest terms what they're getting into.
05:18 Send their daughter to sign up and enroll in one of these colleges.
05:22 She says, "Mom and Dad, I had to sign up for student loans.
05:25 It's the only way I could have gone to school."
05:27 They think to themselves, "Well, maybe that's the sacrifice people make
05:30 to get a college degree that ends up with a good paying job."
05:34 It turns out it's a phony operation from start to finish.
05:38 Falsified income data for graduates and denying career services to the graduates.
05:44 They learn, unfortunately, years after they get the debt started
05:49 that they have a worthless investment.
05:52 The department found similar and deceptive practices
05:56 at other for-profit colleges like DeVry.
05:59 DeVry in Chicago promoted false job placement rates.
06:04 Grand Canyon University--sounds impressive, right?--
06:08 lied to students about the cost of its programs.
06:11 The Obama administration started to require accountability measures,
06:15 but under the Trump administration and Secretary DeVos,
06:19 lap dogs were replaced by watch dogs.
06:22 Then-Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos hired top officials
06:26 who'd worked for the for-profit industry.
06:29 It's a long past time that we hold these profit-hungry,
06:32 fraudulent institutions accountable.
06:36 What rankles me the most, Mr. President,
06:39 is the fact that these students are not only the victims,
06:41 with student debt up to their ears,
06:44 who have to change their life's plans, their career plans,
06:47 because of this indebtedness and the fact that their degrees are virtually worthless.
06:52 I've met some of these young people.
06:54 They sadly tell the story of living in their parents' basement
06:57 because they had no alternative with the debt they'd incurred
07:00 at these worthless for-profit schools.
07:02 That's the reality.
07:04 And the sad part, the tragic part, the infuriating part,
07:07 is that the owners of these for-profit operations
07:10 take all that money from student loans,
07:13 offer nothing in return by way of education,
07:17 and eventually, when they go bankrupt--and they virtually all do--
07:20 they end up off the hook.
07:23 They don't have any personal liability.
07:25 I've been calling for greater scrutiny of for-profit colleges
07:28 for more than 10 years on the floor of the Senate.
07:31 Aside from flying in the face of providing high-quality post-secondary education,
07:36 these for-profit colleges are costing taxpayers millions of dollars.
07:40 Despite well-documented misconduct,
07:43 for-profit colleges receive more than $14 billion--
07:48 $14 billion--in federal student aid in the 2022-2023 school year.
07:55 $14 billion from the federal government.
07:59 That's why today I'm once again sending a warning letter.
08:03 It's the 11th consecutive year in a row.
08:06 I send it to every high school in my state,
08:10 asking them to ensure students receive accurate information
08:14 about the college they want to attend,
08:16 including the risks associated with attending a for-profit college.
08:20 I wondered when I first sent that letter out
08:22 whether anybody would even open the envelope,
08:24 and if they did, whether it meant anything.
08:26 It's amazing.
08:28 These schools tell me, "Thank you for doing this."
08:30 It's a reminder, and we put it right in front of the students and say,
08:33 "Senator sends a letter each year to warn us about these schools.
08:37 Be careful."
08:39 These for-profit schools undermine all of the work and resources
08:42 high schools devote to students,
08:44 and what we use to avoid them can be the difference
08:46 between a successful future
08:48 and one settled with a lifetime of student debt.
08:50 I urge my colleagues to join me in sending a letter
08:53 to the high schools in your state
08:55 warning kids who are being inundated with advertising
08:58 about for-profit schools
09:00 that they may not be making the right decision
09:02 if they head in that direction.
09:04 It is long past time that we hold for-profits accountable
09:08 for the pain they're inflicting on our kids.
09:10 They are exploiting our students and enriching themselves.
09:13 Let's make sure that no young person gets conned
09:16 into attending a duplicitous profit-driven institution.
09:21 What percentage of high school graduates end up at for-profit colleges?
09:26 That's right, 8%.
09:28 And what percentage of the student loans are students from for-profit colleges?
09:32 Student loan defaults?
09:34 30%.
09:35 8% and 30%.
09:36 Those two numbers tell the story.
09:38 I yield the floor.