ALEXANDRIA, VA -- The Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) today responded to Government Accountability Office (GAO) revisions to its biased and defective report released last summer regarding recruiting practices in for-profit higher education with the following statement by its Vice President of Legal and Public Affairs, Timothy Lee: 

“The Obama Administration and its Department of Education have aggressively campaigned to regulate for-profit schools, and we have now witnessed sloppy conduct and allegations of corruption throughout the process.  Multiple United States Senators have asked the Department’s Inspector General to investigate allegations of illegal collaboration and leaking of information between Department officials and groups who might benefit from the regulations. Now, the GAO – the government watchdog arm of Congress - has retracted selectively edited information to damage the reputation of for-profit schools. This latest incident, and allegations that the Department has worked behind the scenes to destroy colleges that provide opportunities to working adults and low-income students, destroys the reports’ credibility and calls into question whether the investigators were improperly influenced.

"The GAO very rarely makes revisions to its reports – this only happens about 1% of the time. We therefore must question these developments and demand more transparency.  We do not need a ‘Collegegate’ scandal, in which the government manipulates data to further a partisan agenda. The Administration, Department of Education and the GAO should focus on allegations of internal corruption, and immediately cease pursuing regulations aimed at preventing students from attending the college of their choice.”

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