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"8 years ago, as senior staff on the U.S. Senate's education committee, Beth Stein & @GIBillRights' @CarrieWofford finished a 2-year investigation documenting excesses by #4profit colleges during the Great Recession of the late 2000s..." https://ihenow.com/3cPp8TP
"The report described a 'boiler room' atmosphere in some call centers run by for-profits, where about 35,000 recruiters nationwide at one point aggressively pursued students anxious for a leg up in finding scarce jobs. And sometimes recruiters were loose with the truth."
"Some prospective students were told financial aid would cover their tuition, only to be saddled with thousands of dollars of debt. Others, the Senate report said, were misled about their chances of getting a good job after they graduated."
"Now, as the pandemic crisis sends the nation back into another recession, Stein, Wofford and other advocates say they’re worried those tactics will return."
"Wofford, then senior counsel of the Senate's education committee, said for-profits appear to be stepping up their advertising aimed at veterans of the U.S. military and active-duty service members, a heavily sought group of potential students amid the last recession."
“'It’s concerning because of the ugly recruiting we saw in the last recession,' said Wofford, now president of @GIBillRights, which advocates for student veterans."
"'People are scared, and there’s an opportunity to convince people to take out a loan and go to a low-quality school,' Wofford said. She was particularly appalled by testimony from for-profit recruiters that some were trained to take advantage of vulnerable prospective students."
"Recruiters would ask probing questions to zero in on a prospective student’s "pain' about a dead-end job, inability to support their children, failing parents or relatives, the Senate report said."
"'Then, when the prospective student feels vulnerable, the recruiter will offer the prospective student the possibility of a college degree as the opportunity to make that pain go away,' the Senate report said."
"Wofford said @GIBillRights is scrutinizing social media platforms. According to a [forthcoming] report by @GIBillRights, for-profits have in recent days been running a large number of ads, many of them touting health-care programs & targeting #veterans" https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/04/17/new-recession-sets-stage-abuses-profits-critics-fear#.XqbJ8smAWms.twitter
