Lawmakers Consider For-Profit Colleges' State Aid

{Frankfort, Kentucky}...Some states have moved to reduce for-profit colleges' access to state educational aid, but Kentucky has not. Lawmakers say Kentucky should discuss who gets state aid during the 2012 General Assembly, which starts in January. Kentucky has paid $97 million since 1999 through its state scholarships to privately owned, for-profit colleges, including several under investigation for alleged consumer fraud or other possible wrongdoing. According to a survey by the National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs, Kentucky gives nearly 8 percent of need-based student aid to for-profit colleges, which is twice the national average. Only four states give a bigger portion. Among Kentucky's for-profit schools to collect state aid was Decker College in Louisville, which went bankrupt in 2005 amid allegations of fraud and inadequate accreditation, leaving hundreds of students with loan debt and no chance to obtain degrees. Another, the Sullivan University System, saw a nearly 1,000 percent increase in its assets from 1998 to 2009, accumulating $76 million. The federal government and the states, including Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway, are scrutinizing for-profit colleges' advertising, student loan defaults and the quality of their teaching. Last week, congressional investigators reported a new round of problems with cheating and dishonest grading and financial aid counseling at seven for-profit colleges.