For Profit Colleges rip off students

Going to the San Antonio campus of ITT Tech—one of the largest for-profit colleges in the country—was the worst choice I've ever made in my life. I try not to blame myself, because ITT Tech recruiters and staff used high-pressure tactics to get me to enroll. But my associate degree in computer and graphic design cost $55,000, and I make less with ITT Tech on my resume than I did with just a high school diploma. Even worse, ITT Tech's career services pressured me to lie and report that I was making three times as much, so their programs could appear successful. My family and I had to move 500 miles so I could get work that would support us. If you think it's important that students like me don't continue to fall victim to for-profit colleges, urge the moderators of the Aug. 6 Republican presidential debate to ask the candidates why they continue to advocate for profits, not for students. For-profit colleges enroll 11 percent of Americans pursuing college degrees. But former for-profit students like me hold 22 percent of all educational loan debt and default three times more often than average. So we're asking the Republican presidential candidates why, instead of protecting students, they've helped the for-profit industry grow.