I recently posted an article about investigations into the practices of for-profit schools. The U.S. Dept. of Education recently passed new regulations designed to protect students from some of the abusive practices of these schools. While all of this has been going on, the U.S. Department of Justice has joined 11 states in a lawsuit against Educational Management Corp., one of the largest for-profit college chains in the country.

The lawsuit alleges that the company, which receives up to 90% of its revenues from student loans, illegally paid school recruiters based on the number of students that they enrolled. The suit further claims that the company operates almost entirely to recruit students, often rewarding recruiters with lavish gifts and trips to exotic places, without devoting adequate resources to provide students with academic and vocational skills to help them find a career. Not surprisingly, student loan default rates at these types of schools are astonishingly high.

Read more about the suit here…