'Shocking' News

Kelly Field over at the Chronicle wrote an article that indicates Education Department may have made an error in reporting default rates. Yeah. And get this. They are most likely higher than previously thought. See? I knew you'd be shocked!

Good news! Jon Oberg Settles Case: Nelnet And Other Lenders Must Pay U.S. Government $57.8 Million

I've written about Jon Oberg on several occasions. He's the Department of Education's G-man, and he has just settled a big case against Nelnet and other lenders. That's some great news for the indentured educated class.

If you want to read through the history of my own work about him, here are the links:

- "Reading Between The Lines: How Sallie Mae's 'Forward Looking' Report May Screw Us, And In A Big Way"

- "Our Dept. of Ed Gman Is Doing Something Heroic For Us!"

- "The Resurrection of Dept. of Education Gman And America's Collective Trauma" 

Sordid Relationships And Broken Promises: Kaplan University's Troubling Financial Relationship To The Washington Post

This forthcoming piece is going to be a good one. I just submitted it to the HuffPost, and it should be up in a few days. My goal is to circulate this article as much as possible, because it shows just how rotten these for-profits are.

For-profits remind me of funnel web spiders, and both can be quite aggressive when provoked. While the spiders kill their prey, the for-profits like to lure in their victims with bullshit promises and then destroy their lives. If you talk to even a handful of students who've  been caught in their webs, they might as well be considered dead. One thing is for sure, their souls have been wrecked.

Here's the most shocking correlation between for-profits and funnel web spiders: I despise both of them! I know, you're surprised by that, aren't you? 

Stay tuned for the actual piece, and help me spread the word about these predatory institutions.

Thoughts On Shame: Michelle Singletary, The Washington Post, And Kaplan University

I am in the midst of writing a piece for the HuffPost about the sordid relationship between the Washington Post and Kaplan University. On a similar note, I've taken issue with Michelle Singletary at the Post on many occasions, and most recently it was in a piece regarding Jesse Jackson's decision to be a sell out and support for-profits. Singletary, on the other hand, performs an even more dubious role at the Post.

She loves to write these sickening stories about how people - actually one couple at her church - got out of student loan debt, and even worse, she recently discussed new initiatives related to student loan reform and higher education funding. In that particular piece, I wrote: "To make matters worse, you have Michelle Singletary at the WP. Oh, yeah, she's a so-called expert on this topic. She's calling for an increase in Pell Grants. I call that a huge conflict of interest."

While writing this forthcoming article about the Post and Kaplan's fraudulent activities, I became angrier about the situation. Moreover, the information upon which I am relying comes directly from a source who used to work at Kaplan. This person was not a low-level telemarketer or recruiter (although those individuals have mountains of evidence, too, so I am not dismissing the tales they could also tell). Instead, the individual played a significant role on one of Kaplan's screw-job campuses.

It's going to a a must-read for those of you who follow my work. The Post and Ms. Singletary should be ashamed of themselves. Frankly, I don't know how that woman sleeps at night. But then again I don't know how a lot of people sleep at night.

Yet Another Letter To Roberto Rodriguez

We've kicked off the next letter writing campaign, and I've sent all the volunteers the first draft that will be sent out via email to Mr. Roberto Rodriguez in about 3 days. Hopefully the White House will actually respond this time. We'll see . . .

Also, if you would like to join this letter writing campaign, there is still time to do so. However, you must email me ASAP (ccrynjohannsen AT gmail.com) and let me know you'd like to be added. Just copy and paste the following message - "I'd like to be a part of your next letter writing campaign for Nov. 18th 2010" - into the subject line, and you'll receive the rough draft version.

If I don't hear from you by November 16th, you're out of luck this time. But don't worry, there will be plenty of opportunities to let your voice be heard.

We must never forget: volunteering is, indeed, sexy.