As long as the education system is corrupt, the recovery is not in sight

The for-profit colleges, aided by their congressional lobbying, do not want to be regulated. However, these crooked institutions want to get their share of the "federal" aid to students. Why should "for-profit" companies squeeze out government largesse, while at the same time campaigning for debt reduction and service reduction to the poor and suffering? If the government is going to cut financial aid, what is left should go to the not-for-profit institutions, rather than these corrupt institutions and corrupt leaders and shareholders.

For-profit colleges adopt conduct code - Yahoo! Finance: "The Coalition for Educational Success, a Washington, D.C.-based group that represents career colleges serving 350,000 students at nearly 500 campuses, announced the Standards of Responsible Conduct, but won't release the complete code until this summer. The industry group said it will cover areas ranging from standard disclosures of tuition costs and job placement rates to more transparent financial aid policies.

Managing director Penny Lee said the standards will provide a "new level of accountability."

"We know concerns have been raised and we take them very seriously," she said. "This is a significant step for the sector."

The announcement comes as another industry group battles the U.S. Department of Education in federal court in a bid to block new regulations of for-profit higher education institutions. The industry has lobbied heavily in Washington against a proposed "gainful employment" rule that could limit schools' access to federal financial aid if graduates' debt levels are too high or too few students repay loans.

Also, Lee's coalition sued the federal General Accounting Office in February over a scathing GAO report that relied on undercover investigators posing as prospective students who found fraud at four schools and deceptive marketing practices at each of the 15 schools scrutinized.

Industry critics reacted with skepticism to the announcement.

"We're glad that the Coalition for Educational Success now seems to admit it has a problem," said David Halperin, executive director of Campus Progress, an offshoot of the Center for American Progress. "It would have been better if CES had proposed reforming itself before its back was to the wall."

The coalition's code will be overseen by Republican Thomas Kean, former New Jersey governor and Drew University president, and Democrat Ed Rendell, former Pennsylvania governor. Halperin noted that Kean, who was also chairman of the federal 9/11 Commission, is a partner at an investment firm with a financial stake in privately held education companies."