In a state where the need for education far outstrips the resources to pay for it, Attorney General Jack Conway's investigation of for-profit colleges and schools is a welcome development.
Graduates of for-profit colleges are at least twice as likely to default on federal student loans as graduates of other institutions. And for-profit colleges live on federal financial aid; their share increased from $4.6 billion in 2000 to $26.5 billion last year.
Students at for-profit schools represented 26 percent of the borrowers in 2008-09 and 43 percent of all defaulters.
The median federal student loan debt carried by those earning associate (two-year) degrees at for-profit institutions was $14,000 while the majority of students at community colleges do not borrow, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
Kentucky's student loan programs consistently run out of money before they run out of qualified applicants.
All this raises big questions for policy-makers about how to get as much education value as possible from limited financial resources.
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