For-profit colleges face tough new rules

The Boston Globe reports:

The Obama administration is preparing to produce tougher regulations that could reduce the amount of federal financial aid flowing to for-profit colleges, cutting the companies’ annual revenue growth by as much as a third.

In response, the $29 billion industry and its supporters have enlisted top Washington lobbyists and are courting black and Hispanic legislators to fight the proposed rules, which could be released as early as this month. The companies draw students from low-income and minority communities.

Federal aid to for-profit colleges has become an issue because it jumped from $4.6 billion in 2000 to $26.5 billion in 2009, according to the Education Department, prompting concern that these students are taking on too much debt.

You can't say the Bush years didn't increase spending on education.