Congresswoman Waters Pleased with "Long Overdue" Department of Education Actions Against Corinthian Colleges
Press Release
Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-43) expressed her support for a series of penalties imposed on Corinthian Colleges, Inc. by the Department of Education, including an enrollment freeze on some of its campuses, $30 million in fines, and the suspension of federal funding for two of its California schools.
Waters released the following statement:
"I am very pleased with the actions taken by the Department of Education today against a predatory actor in higher education. Corinthian Colleges has long shown an unwillingness to play by the rules or to keep its promises to students. This is why I have repeatedly urged the Department to hold them accountable. And while today's penalties are long overdue, they mark the beginning of the end for an institution that has caused serious harm to some of our most vulnerable citizens. I look forward to working with the Secretary and students to provide debt relief students deserve."
Since her time as a California Assemblywoman, Congresswoman Waters has fought to hold predatory for-profit colleges accountable to students and taxpayers. As a newly elected Member of Congress, she fought against waste and abuse of taxpayer dollars in the for-profit postsecondary education industry by limiting the amount of federal funding they could receive as profit. This past July, she urged the Department of Education to respond to the Corinthian sales and closures by allowing all students an unqualified ability to withdraw and receive refunds. When the sale of 56 Corinthian schools to the Educational Credit Management Corporation (ECMC) was first announced, she requested that the Department condition its approval of the transaction on the prohibition of mandatory arbitration clauses and class action waivers from being included in future students' enrollment agreements. She also insisted that any Department revenue from the sale be used exclusively to provide relief to Corinthian students. Most recently, she became the first Member of Congress to endorse the "Corinthian 100' in their Debt Strike.
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