http://www.huffingtonpost.com/davidhalperin/for-profit-colleges-spend_b_5221407.html...."Education Management Corp. (EDMC) spent: $60,000 on Barnes and $70,000 on Prime Policy Group, with a lobbying team headed by Charlie Black, long-time GOP lobbyist and an advisor to Reagan, Bush, Bush, McCain, etc. EDMC's CEO Edward West also met personally with White House staff to discuss gainful employment. EDMC -- whose students have for years complained about deceptive recruiting, deceptively high prices, and poor placement efforts -- is now under investigation by a bipartisan group of twelve state attorneys general who in January issued investigative demands on the company, seeking information, according to EDMC, on recruiting, placement, lending, and other issues. This followed the announcement in December that EDMC agreed to pay $3.3 million to settle charges with the Colorado attorney general that its Argosy University engaged in deceptive marketing practices. In yet another case, half a dozen states, along with the U.S. Justice Department, have sued EDMC for fraud, alleging the company paid its recruiters based on the number of students signed up, in violation of federal rules."...................................
"Part of this coverage has resulted in a increased awareness on the part of investors. Stocks such as EDMC simply have no interest to investors who are tired of the company double speak. The company has again been sued by its own employees for deceptive practices (4/28), the company gives enormous sums to candidates and lobbyists who eschew government funding while all the time they are driving up the sub prime bubble of Title IV debt and the company seems to not be able to produce any credible numbers that demonstrate otherwise. Investors are tired of the endless lawsuits and the failure of the company to deliver on its commitment to offer quality education.
Enrollment is plummeting. EDMC has become synonymous with student drop out, inadequate training and overwhelming debt.
Investors blogs carry well reasoned articles predicting doom for these companies and EDMC for certain.
After impoverished education and deceptive enrollment practices comes exorbitant executive compensation (EDMC Aviation is larger than the Brunei Air Force and the Sultan's personal fleet combined)----this gets exhausting for investors and students alike.
The easiest thing that EDMC could do would be to offer an honest education and reduce executive income. My bet is they will not."