By Kevin McCauley
The Association of Proprietary Colleges, which is based in Albany, has retained Downey McGrath to ward off federal tightening of aid or regulations concerning the “for-profit” college sector.
Tom Downey, the ex-Democratic Congressman from Long Island, spearheads that effort. He’s assisted by Senator Hillary Clinton’s legislative aide Deborah Nussbaum and John Olinger, who was Downey’s chief of staff.
The APC is an organization of 27 colleges in the Empire State that serve a 55K-member student body. Member schools include Monroe College, ITT Technical Institute, DeVry College, School of Visual Arts, Berkeley College, Wood Tobe Coburn School, Five Towns College, Briarcliffe College, Simmons Institute of Funeral Service, Bryant & Stratton and the Swedish Institute.
A U.S. Senate probe of for-profit colleges released last year by Iowa Democrat Tom Harkin found that U.S. taxpayers “invested” $32B in the sector, in which more than half of the students left without a degree or certificate within four months.
It faulted federal laws and regulations for not aligning incentives of for-colleges with the success of their students.
Corning Place Communications handles PR for the group. |