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The U.S. Education Department has removed the "independent monitor" of campuses formerly owned by Corinthian Colleges Inc. after an Associated Press investigation revealed several conflicts of interest in the arrangement. The APreports that the department confirmed it would drop the law firm of Hogan Marren Babbo & Rose as the overseer of the Zenith Education Group’s management of the campuses.
Among the AP investigation's findings:
- The law firm had established attorney-client privilege with Zenith, which caused it to act in Zenith’s interest.
- The firm had advocated on behalf of for-profit colleges like Corinthian, and even once argued that for-profits had a right not to inform prospective students about whether graduates got jobs.
- Two lawyers in the firm who were working on the issue had also worked for firms retained by Corinthian before it fell apart in response to federal scrutiny.
Read more at The Chronicle of Higher Education: http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/education-dept-will-drop-monitor-of-former-corinthian-campuses-over-conflicts-of-interest/109455
And The Associated Press: http://bigstory.ap.org/9457a3013b2a45d0a84be99423390019
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