For-Profit Colleges

Udacity and some boot camps offer money-back guarantees despite state bans on job-placement promises in higher education. But some say the offers are a form of risk sharing worth considering.

Graduates who earned certificates at public institutions have larger salaries, but there is wide variation between programs even at the same institutions.

Investors fret that the Education Department's lengthy scrutiny of the U of Phoenix's proposed sale means the deal might be nixed. Politics and optics might be reasons for the delay.

The Education Department said Friday it would restore Pell Grant eligibility for students whose education was interrupted by the closure of their institutions.

Campaign contributions from for-profit colleges continue to tilt heavily to Republicans. But the struggling sector's political giving is down since peaking in 2012.

Group of colleges releases voluntarily standards for competency-based education, which Education Department official says could help prevent the rise of bad actors.

Settlement between for-profit university and Education Department resolves charges over unsubstantiated advertising about job placement, but Federal Trade Commission lawsuit over same claims remains.

National accreditor ACCSC gets inquiries from nearly 300 colleges overseen by ACICS, most of them for-profits. Critics of accreditors will be watching as the agency reviews the flood of applications.