Sen. Durbin Pleads With School Officials To Stop Student Recruitment At For-Profit Colleges

Illinois U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin is pleading with school administrators to help prevent for-profit colleges efforts to recruit their students.

Credit Flickr user / alamosbasement "old school" (CC BY 2.0)

His comments came during a statewide meeting of school principals Monday.

Citing studies that show the average graduate of a for-profit college makes less than a high school drop-out, Durbin says he’s sometimes questioned by students about why the federal government awards Pell grants for them to attend bad schools.

“How do I end up with a federal student loan to go to that school? Why do you even approve these schools if they’re so bad? And they’re right on. Spot on," Durbin said. "We need to do a better job in accrediting these schools, we need to do a better job in making sure they’re keeping their promise and they’re worth the debt these students are incurring."

Durbin has shared the same warning for three years in what’s become an annual letter to high school principals.

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