The Obama administration’s new college comparison website, which it’s now developing in lieu of college ratings, should include information about colleges facing investigations or lawsuits from state or federal authorities, a coalition of consumer and student advocates said Wednesday.
In a letter to Education Secretary Arne Duncan, the coalition, led by the Institute for College Access & Success, proposed that the department’s consumer-focused website "alert consumers if a school is the subject of public federal or state investigations, lawsuits or settlements."
"Students deserve to know when a college’s practices are under heightened scrutiny from federal and state regulators, just as investors in publicly traded for-profit colleges are required to be notified of such events," the letter said.
"Fewer students might have enrolled in Corinthian colleges if they had known of the many investigations and lawsuits against the school," TICAS said in a separate statement.
The Obama administration announced last month that it was abandoning its contentious plan to publish ratings of colleges based on certain metrics and now intends to create a new federal website that allows parents and students to compare colleges.
Read more at Inside Higher Ed: https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2015/07/23/consumer-groups-urge-feds-flag-colleges-under-investigation