Whitney Barkley-Denney

FTC announces record $191M settlement against University of Phoenix

Charlene CrowellDecember 19, 2019

The University of Phoenix (UOP), one of the nation’s largest for-profit colleges will pay a record $191 million settlement to resolve charges stemming from a five-year investigation by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). On December 10, Andrew Smith, Director of FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection noted it was the largest settlement the Commission has obtained in a case against a for-profit school.

Education Department Helps Loan Servicers Instead of Borrowers

Charlene CrowellFebruary 28, 2019

In an increasingly competitive global economy, highly skilled workers have a sharp advantage in securing and keeping employment. And as technological advances result in life-long learning in many occupations, many worker-students turn to federal student aid, the largest source of funding for higher education, to expand and/or hone their value in the marketplace.

Charlene Crowell Education National Opinion

State AGs to DeVos: Work with, Not Against, State Law Enforcement

Charlene CrowellJuly 26, 2018

Starting last summer, student loan servicers like Navient have been lobbying DeVos to shield them from liability for their practices. And it’s worked. Despite objections from a bi-partisan group of Attorneys General (AGs), the National Association of Governors, and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, DeVos and the Department of Education have increasingly made it more difficult for state and federal law enforcement agencies to do their jobs by retracting information sharing agreements with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and instructing servicers not share student loan information with state law enforcement and banking supervisors.