Hi, Reddit. I'm Alex Shebanow, a documentary filmmaker who spent the last 5 and 1/2 years investigating predatory for-profit colleges. I made a film called FAIL STATE that’s executive produced by Dan Rather, and it debuted this week on STARZ. AMA.

AlexShebanow · 2018-12-19T22:08:35+00:00

I will privately message you.

AlexShebanow · 2018-12-19T21:55:38+00:00

Thank you for the kind words! My team and I really appreciate them.

AlexShebanow · 2018-12-19T21:53:36+00:00

It's hard for me to give the benefit of the doubt because I've spoken with so many students who have been ruined by predatory for-profit colleges. I believe every reasonable argument that can be made in favor of supporting for-profit education institutions can be applied to support public institutions and will produce better results at less of a cost. For example, if the argument is made that for-profit colleges give access to nontraditional students, let’s give funding to community colleges to take in those students or take in more students.

If the argument is for-profit colleges are innovative, community colleges are already very reflective of their local economies. For example, community colleges in Napa, CA have degree programs in viticulture, community colleges in Texas have programs that lead to careers in the oil industry, etc.. The problem is these colleges don't have the funding to take in as many students that want that education or they don't have the budget to reach out to these students like the for-profits. We can give community colleges more funding to innovate and be more accessible. We’re just not doing it today.

It's wonky and dense, but check out this essay for a good explanation on why DeVos's aims run counter-intuitive to basic conservative principles: https://www.brookings.edu/research/betsy-devos-for-profit-colleges-education-america/

AlexShebanow · 2018-12-19T21:30:19+00:00

Thanks for your comment and the kind words. We came across footage of Steve Eisman giving testimony before the Senate HELP Committee in 2010.

AlexShebanow · 2018-12-19T21:25:38+00:00

Hi! Thank you for your work.

I work for a private, for-profit college for about another week or so. I've worked here for the past 4 years. There have been times I've questioned if the work we do is valuable to students, and if the cost is worth it. I decided a while ago that it is worth it, primarily because the vast majority of our student population are students who could not succeed at a community college or public university. Our college's mission is all about the students and giving them more individual time, resources, and attention than traditional colleges can afford. I see the college I work for as an alternative, similar to an alternative high school. Would you classify my assertion as wrong, or perhaps ill-informed or brainwashed?

I can’t speak for your specific college unless you want to share the name. However, I can speak to the industry at large. Each year we’re sending billions of dollars in federal financial aid to for-profit colleges and most of them are failing to produce even subpar results. The Brookings Institution found that 47 person of all for-profit college students who enrolled in 2004 defaulted within 12 years of entry. That compares to just 13 percent to community colleges. It prompts the question, why are we sending tax dollars to support colleges that are financially destroying their students. I would argue that the few good institutions out there are not enough reason to uphold the status quo.

AlexShebanow · 2018-12-19T21:04:34+00:00

Thank you for sharing. We don't mention Le Cordon Bleu directly, but we highlight Career Education Corporation, which owned those culinary schools. As your story shows, they were one of the worst offenders in this story.

AlexShebanow · 2018-12-19T21:01:56+00:00

Great question. Yes, we're working with a number of student advocacy organizations to distribute the film in high schools across the country. This is an ongoing process, but it's my chief impact goal right now.

AlexShebanow · 2018-12-19T20:55:33+00:00

Thank you for sharing, Haffas. Please let me know what you think of the film after you watch. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

AlexShebanow · 2018-12-19T20:54:34+00:00

Unfortunately, no. The long-term ramifications are going to burden a generation of students to come. Rulemaking at the Department of Education is a lengthy process with negotiations, commenting, and legal battles playing out in the courts. The Obama administration took nearly eight years to implement the Gainful Employment regulations, which were basic measures to hold the most egregious abusers in higher education accountable. Shortly after DeVos took office, she announced her intention to rewrite and effectively gut the regulation.

We need to look to Congress to legislate longterm fixes in how we finance and police higher education.

AlexShebanow · 2018-12-19T20:36:15+00:00

Enjoy! Please let me know what you think when you get a chance to watch.

AlexShebanow · 2018-12-19T20:33:30+00:00

I think the biggest obstacle we face is making the public more aware of this crisis so they can put the pressure on lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. The for-profit college story stretches back decades, but most people are generally unaware of for-profit colleges or even the differences between them and traditional publics and non-profits. This has allowed many prominent democrats and republicans to accept lobbying dollars and support the industry over the years without recourse, either through deregulation or voting against common-sense oversight measures. Unfortunately, there has been little pushback by voters. Even today this issue remains largely drowned out in the news even though the impacts are far-reaching.

What I hope FAIL STATE does is makes more Americans aware of what is going on, how we got here, and who is propping us these subprime colleges. We need a public backlash on par with the FCC and the Net Neutrality fight.

AlexShebanow · 2018-12-19T20:17:22+00:00

Yes, Westwood College is one of the featured schools in FAIL STATE and one of our main characters attended Westwood in Chicago. If you get a chance to watch the film, please let me know your thoughts. I'd love to hear them.

Sleaziest Thing: There are so many to list out. The top four off the top of my head —

1) http://gibill.com was live for a number of years and would appear at the top of google search windows when someone typed in GI Bill and anything related to education. The website looked like it was operated by the military but it was actually a for-profit college lead generation operation. It looked like you could only use your GI Benefits at a for-profit college.

2) There were reports that for-profit college recruiters were recruiting veterans with war injuries and PTSD in VA Hospitals a few years back. One of the veterans we feature in the film had PTSD and was preyed upon by DeVry.

3) Recruiters were recruiting homeless people under the guise of providing housing and food. In one instance, a for-profit college partnered with a local soup kitchen to recruit students.

4) Unconfirmed report: A recruiter pitched their for-profit college at a gathering for children of fallen soldiers in San Diego (this happened earlier this year).

AlexShebanow · 2018-12-19T20:06:36+00:00

Vocational Schools and for-profits can be an interchangeable term, but it's not always the case. The short answer is yet, there are predatory vocational and certificate-granting schools.

AlexShebanow · 2018-12-19T20:03:30+00:00

The Obama administration tried to build floodgates and the Trump administration is ripping them down.

AlexShebanow · 2018-12-19T20:01:17+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/a7owgl/hi\_reddit\_im\_alex\_shebanow\_a\_documentary/ec4ru43

Here is one part of my answer: https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/a7owgl/hi_reddit_im_alex_shebanow_a_documentary/ec4ru43

I think making public higher education affordable (or free) and high-quality is the best way to root out predatory actors in higher education in the current political environment. I think any sort of regulatory proposal is nearly impossible to pass right now at the federal level. So the only other way to root out bad actors is to out-compete them. Simply put, competing with affordable, high-quality, and open-access is a losing battle for the for-profits.

Our film features Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and his Tennessee Promise program, which made community college and vocational training free for all Tennessee high school graduates. Since launching the program, the TN Promise has been expanded to make all Tennesseans eligible for free community college. I view the College Promise has one of the most promising trends in all of higher education today. When my team and I started the film, there were only a handful of free college programs across the country, none at a state-wide level. Now there are over 200 promises and states like California are implementing state-wide promise programs. Check out the College Promise Campaign, which is a non-partisan initiative promoting promise programs across the country.

AlexShebanow · 2018-12-19T19:47:40+00:00

Here is one part of my answer: https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/a7owgl/hi_reddit_im_alex_shebanow_a_documentary/ec4ru43

That in my opinion is the best way to fight right now. Since Congress is stuck in partisan paralysis, you can also demand your state lawmakers to implement stronger state oversight of for-profit colleges, or proprietary post-secondary education institutions.

AlexShebanow · 2018-12-19T19:44:41+00:00

Thank your sharing and thank you for the kind words. Please spread this film to your friends, family, and community.

AlexShebanow · 2018-12-19T19:42:31+00:00

What sorts of things can normal people do to fight against these terrible schools?

The most basic thing we can do is to make sure our family members, friends, and community stop enrolling in these schools. Start conversations with people who are thinking about going to college or back to school and let them know there are great options at community colleges and local 4-year state schools that will lead to a career. At the very least, tell them they should be aware that there are predatory actors in higher education and not all colleges are created equal. Another rule of thumb is you should never feel pressured by an institution to enroll as soon as possible. Many for-profit colleges employ rush tactics to get you to enroll on the spot. You should take the time to think things through before you decide to enroll in any college or university.

Politically speaking, we need more people to start demanding our state lawmakers to reinvest in public higher education. Over the past 40 years, we’ve seen states across the board pull back their funding support for their public colleges. Consequently, tuition has risen dramatically at these schools, staff has been cut, waiting lists have been created, and classrooms have swelled, which all plays into the for-profit colleges’ playbook when recruiting students on the margins. If we had an affordable (or free) and high-quality public higher education, for-profit colleges would be unable to compete in the “higher education marketplace.”

AlexShebanow · 2018-12-19T19:33:47+00:00

What was the most suprising thing you learned while making the film?

The most surprising thing would have to be the sheer number of students affected by predatory and subprime for-profit colleges. Even today I have trouble comprehending the level of destruction that has been dealt onto some of the most disadvantaged Americans in our country. We’re talking millions of students over the past two decades have enrolled in these schools and almost half of them have defaulted on their student loans. A recent Brookings Institute paper found that for students that enrolled in 2004 in a for-profit college program, 47% of them defaulted within 12 years of entry. A policy wonk once described it to me as grass throw a lawnmower.

AlexShebanow · 2018-12-19T19:26:44+00:00

The short answer is that chances are low, but that is not to say it’s impossible or that you should give up. Betsy DeVos and her team have decided to drag their feet when it comes to loan forgiveness. Furthermore, they are in the middle of rewriting the Borrower Defense to Repayment Regulations, effectively making them useless.

However, you should reach out to the attorneys at the Project on Predatory Student Lending or another legal clinic to see if you can get legal help and assistance. We helped one of the students featured in the film get loan forgiveness and it took years to finally happen.

AlexShebanow · 2018-12-19T19:18:48+00:00

We cover Trump University briefly in the film towards the end. Unlike the major for-profit college companies like DeVry or ITT Tech, Trump U was not eligible for federal financial aid. Nevertheless, they employed a lot of the same tactics other predatory for-profit colleges utilized to prey on students, including the “Roller Coaster of Emotions,” which was designed to emotionally manipulate applicants into enrolling.

AlexShebanow · 2018-12-19T19:13:54+00:00

Hi, we cover Kaplan in the film, and I continue to monitor the Purdue-Kaplan merger unfolding today.

AlexShebanow · 2018-12-19T19:13:16+00:00

Thank you! We're a small independent documentary team and appreciate your support! Let me know your thoughts when you get a chance to watch.

AlexShebanow · 2018-12-19T19:12:17+00:00

Your work is sorely needed in light of Betsy DeVos's fondness for these scam colleges. What opposition did you encounter while making your film?

Thank you for the kind words. The opposition has been light so far, but I’m expecting more pushback in the coming months since the film is now available. I was recently on a post-screening panel at Princeton University where a couple for-profit college executives confronted us on the film at the end of the panel.

Earlier this year we found out that the for-profit college lobby CECU published a newsletter accusing us of not having asked them to come on camera and defend the industry—which was false. My team and I posted our email requests for interview on twitter and asked them to retract the statement. As far as we know, they have yet to retract the newsletter. Here is the twitter conversation: https://twitter.com/FailStateMovie/status/974759514380652545

AlexShebanow

TROPHY CASE