The California Institute of Technology will settle a class-action lawsuit from students who argued the institution misled them when they enrolled in an online cybersecurity bootcamp that bore Caltech’s name—but was run by a contractor called an online program manager, or OPM. Caltech must be explicit in its advertising that the cybersecurity program is a
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A filing in federal district court in Arizona suggests the Federal Trade Commission may be preparing to drop the 2023 lawsuit it brought against Grand Canyon Education, a case alleging that Grand Canyon University’s for-profit arm and its CEO, Brian Mueller, deceptively advertised the costs of its doctoral programs, misrepresented the non-profit status of the
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The Trump Administration, which has unlawfully fired Democrat-appointed officials across numerous federal agencies in its first six months, now claims that the appointment earlier this year of Zakiya Smith Ellis, a Democratic appointee, as chair of a key Department of Education advisory committee was “erroneous.” As the Wall Street Journal reported last week, the Department
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On the eve of the 4th of July holiday, when they probably hoped no one was paying attention, the Trump Department of Education issued an Interpretive Rule that will make it easier for for-profit colleges to evade regulations aimed at protecting students, and especially student veterans and military service members, from low-quality schools. The Department’s 90-10
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It’s a busy week for me, but I want to acknowledge, since we have focused on it here for more than two years, that the absurd deal for the University of Idaho to purchase the predatory for-profit University of Phoenix is finally dead.  That’s good news.  A wide range of Idahoans stood up against a
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Donald Trump’s Secretary of Education, billionaire Linda McMahon, has now echoed Trump’s last education secretary, billionaire Betsy DeVos, by claiming that fighting fraud in higher education means going after students, rather than holding accountable the predatory for-profit colleges and wealthy school owners who have repeatedly been caught deceiving students and taxpayers. Trump himself agreed to
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Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), chair of the Senate Health Education Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee, has declined to schedule a hearing prior to a committee vote, set for Thursday, on President Trump’s nominee to be Under Secretary of Education, Nicholas Kent. Having encountered Kent at dozens of Department of Education public hearings over the years,
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The Donald J. Trump administration, which claims its DOGE-driven reshaping of the federal government is aimed at cutting waste, fraud, and abuse, quietly cancelled a $37 million fine that the Department of Education, under the Biden administration, imposed in 2023 on Grand Canyon University. The fine was levied after Department investigators documented extensive findings that
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