UPDATE: BREAKING! Whistleblower David Goodstein Slams Kaplan and Wins!

In November of 2010, I wrote about David Goodstein's suit against Kaplan. He came to me with his story about one of Kaplan's campuses in Pennsylvania. He alleged that they lured students into signing up for a surgical-technology program that literally had no end, i.e., the program could not be completed. The students were defrauded and left with mountains of debt. Goodstein, a high-ranking employee at Kaplan, was outraged by the situation, and took action. (Kaplan is owned by the Washington Post, which is one of the reasons they never write about the student lending crisis, and especially not the for-profit issue. In fact, they have come out in defense of the for-profits. But why wouldn't they? The paper depends upon those profits. So their writers, like Michelle Singletary, spews out positive-thinking mumbo jumbo about paying down debt. She always likes to highlight exceptional cases in which people have paid off their debt, and fails to discuss the fact that we're dealing with a systemic crisis. Here's the problem with that - folks on the Hill turn to the WAPO for big news items. They take a glance at stories that discuss debtors who take hiking trips or who have paid down their debt. Then they think there isn't an issue, and they move on. That's why WAPO has lost its journalistic integrity, especially when it comes to adequately addressing the student lending crisis.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced today that the suit has been settled for $1.6 million. Goodstein prevailed! The official press release can be read here.

*UPDATE*

I just spoke to David again and he has agreed to answer a few questions about the case, so stay tuned for his remarks!

Here's some other bizarre news about Kaplan. Bloomberg reports that a former dean of Washington Post Co. (WPO)'s Kaplan University unit was sentenced for threatening the school and Kaplan Inc. CFO Andrew Rosen via email and on the Internet. Bennie Wilcox was sentenced to 1 year and 1 day by a federal jury in Chicago.

Source: Screwed by Kaplan University.com

Rep. Hansen Clarke: Congress should cut and cap mortgages and forgive student loans to create jobs

Please let Rep. Clarke know how much we appreciate his suggestion!

Call his office (202-225-2261) and send him a tweet (@RepHansenClarke) - let him know how much it means to the indentured educated class!

RELATED LINKS


"Are Millennials the Solution to the Nation's Housing Crisis," Morley Winograd and Michael D. Hais, Future Majority

More Threats To Pell

Higher education advocate at U.S. PIRG, Rich Williams, has written an frightening piece for USA Today about Pell. It is at even greater risk of being eviscerated than previously thought. Neoliberals want us to believe that 'austerity measures' are necessary to 'save' the country from falling apart, but they are feeding the public with lies. At a time when Pell and other 'entitlement' programs should be supported and increased, woefully out of touch and I can only assume economically ignorant lawmakers are pushing for the exact opposite. 

Here's a snippet:

The U.S. House of Representatives has approved austerity measures that expose this same generation to potentially unsustainable debt right now through increased student loans.

The tradeoff promises to not only undermine individual and national prosperity, but also make it less likely that the country will have the resources to meet its obligations in the years to come. Controlling our national debt is not, as they say, an academic exercise. Deficit reduction, like education policy, should focus on ensuring a stable and sustainable economy. If that is the goal, cutting funding to higher education and job training programs is the wrong approach.

I encourage you to read the piece in its entirety here. 

Related Links

"Save Pell," AEM (July 16, 2011)

"Point/Counter Point - Pell Grants," AEM (May 25, 2011)

Image Credit: Angelo Lopez

Thomas M Cooley Law School Sues NYC Law Firm and 4 'John Does' for Defamation: Seeking Answers and Help from the Hill

As AEM reported last week, Thomas M Cooley Law School has filed a lawsuit against a NYC law firm and '4 John Does' for defamation.

This information caused an immediate stir in the blogosphere and was quickly picked up by a number of major media outlets. The most recent piece, by TTR, condemns the school for its hypocrisy.

In an effort to bring this situation to the attention of Michigan lawmakers, I am seeking some help from those on the Hill. I'll be heading to DC in August to represent the indentured educated class, and will certainly bring up the situation if I am granted some meetings with those offices.

One person cynically told me that these lawmakers are to blame for schools like Cooley to operate in the way that it does. Perhaps that is true. Perhaps it is false. (Since Cooley has threatened me with a SLAPP suit in the past, I will continue to remain neutral, as I have each time I've written about them). Nevertheless, I think that Michigan lawmakers, in particular, ought to know about the situation, and then they can weigh in. The former Cooley student, who is fearful that his career will be ruined if they reveal his identity, deserves that much.

Save Pell!

Are you aware that the Pell Program, which helps low-income Americans go to school, is on the chopping block because of this debt ceiling fiasco? That's right. It is. I also wrote a piece recently in defense of Pell, and called for bold increases to the program.


If you tweet, I encourage you to send the President (@BarackObama) and the Whitehouse (@whitehouse), as well as House and Senate leaders tweets that let them know you're worried about Pell. You could send the following, and also call the White House. Here are some suggestions:

• Last night @BarackObama gave hill leaders 36 hours to create a debt ceiling deal. Pell cuts possible.  http://wapo.st/oFgWgZ #SavePell
   
• Congress has identified Pell Grants as target for debt  reduction cuts. #SavePell
   
• Pell faces huge cuts in debt ceiling talks. Neither students or our economy can afford this. #SavePell http://bit.ly/qX1kUU
   
• Tell @BarackObama to stand up for students. Protect Pell in debt negotiations. Tweet @whitehouse or call 1-888-245-0215 #SavePell
   
• Tell @BarackObama to take Pell Grants off the table. Call 1-888-245-0215. Sign the petition http://bit.ly/rruNrD. Tweet @whitehouse #SavePell
   
• President @BarackObama: “I'm prepared to bring down the deficit by trillions...but not by sacrificing our kids' #education." #SavePell
   
• Low-income students  are facing tuition hikes and reduced financial aid packages. Tell @BarackObama to #SavePell. 1-888-245-0215
   
• America needs more college grads. Tell @BarackObama to #SavePell. Tweet @whitehouse or call 1-888-245-0215
   
• Tell your friends to help #SavePell. Sign the petition: http://bit.ly/rruNrD Call the White House: 888-245-0215 Tweet: @whitehouse

A number of organizations have sent the President a letter, urging him to protect Pell. All Education Matters signed that letter too.

Here it is:

July 15, 2011

The Honorable Barack Obama

President of the United States

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

Throughout your presidency you have shown a strong commitment to increasing our nation’s college completion rates and have made great strides toward advancing this goal. As you negotiate with Congress on a debt ceiling package, we urge you to honor this commitment by protecting the maximum Pell Grant and avoiding any eligibility cuts that would be harmful to students. Cutting Pell Grant awards or eligibility will reduce access to college, undermine the economy, and lower college completion rates when we need to be raising them.

As you know, Pell Grants make college possible for over nine million Americans. They enable the neediest among us to get the postsecondary education required to increase their earning potential and keep America competitive in the global economy. Even after the significant increases in the maximum grant that your Administration secured, the maximum Pell Grant will cover less than a third of the cost of attending a four-year public college next year—the smallest share in the history of the program. Furthermore, Pell Grant recipients are already more than twice as likely as other students to have student loans. Make no mistake: cutting Pell Grants at this time—either through a reduction in the maximum award or through harmful eligibility changes—will reduce the number of people who can attend college and earn a degree.

The recent increase in the cost of the Pell Grant program is no reason to make damaging permanent changes to this successful and vital program. Fully 40% of the recent rise in Pell costs is because of the economic downturn, not policy changes. When millions of Americans lost their jobs and saw their incomes decline during the recession, the Pell Grant program responded as it was designed to—ensuring access to education and training when jobs were scarce. Another 22% of the increase was due to the year round Pell Grant program, which was ended under the FY2011 budget agreement, reducing program costs by $40 billion over 10 years. Because of this change and with the economy continuing to recover, program costs have stabilized. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office projects that Pell Grant costs will grow less than 1% a year in the next two years and only 2% a year over the next ten years. After adjusting for inflation, spending on Pell Grants is projected to decline in each of the next two years.

At a time of record income inequality and unemployment, Pell Grants are one of the keystones of economic mobility and opportunity in this country. Cutting Pell Grant awards or eligibility would be pennywise and pound-foolish. We urge you to honor the values you have articulated for the nation and protect educational opportunity in the current deficit reduction package.

Sincerely,

AFL-CIO

All Education Matters

American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers

American Association of University Women

American Federation of Teachers

American Medical Student Association

American School Counselor Association

American Student Association of Community

Colleges

ASPIRA

Business-Higher Education Forum

Campaign for College Affordability

Campaign for College Opportunity

Campus Progress Action

Center for Law and Social Policy

Children’s Defense Fund

College Summit

Community College League of California

Corporate Voices for Working Families

Crittenton Women’s Union

Democrats for Education Reform

Dēmos: A Network for Ideas & Action

The Education Trust

Forum for Youth Investment

Generational Alliance

Green Dot Public Schools

The Greenlining Institute

Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities

Illinois Education Foundation

The Institute for College Access & Success

Institute for Higher Education Policy

Jobs for the Future

KIPP Foundation

League of United Latin American Citizens

MomsRising

NAACP

National Association for College Admission

Counseling

National Association for Equal Opportunity in

Higher Education

National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

National Association of State Student Grant and

Aid Programs (NASSGAP)

National Black Law Students Association

National College Access Network

National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients)

National Council for Community and Education

Partnerships (NCCEP)

NCLR (National Council of La Raza)

National Education Association

National Organization for Portuguese Americans

National Skills Coalition

Neighborhood Economic Development

Advocacy Project

Public Advocates

Rebuild the Dream

Rock the Vote

Roosevelt Institute Campus Network

Single Stop USA

Students for Education Reform

Thurgood Marshall College Fund

UNCF

U.S. Public Interest Research Group

United States Student Association

Women Employed

Workforce Strategies Initiative at The Aspen Institute

Year Up

Young Invincibles