As President Donald Trump works to reshape America’s colleges and universities, the man he wants overseeing higher education has deep ties to an industry often in the Department of Education’s crosshairs: for-profit colleges.
That person, Nicholas Kent, worked with the preeminent lobbying group for for-profit colleges and was a high-level executive for another that reached a $13 million settlement over claims it had defrauded the federal government’s student aid program.
As under secretary, Kent would oversee the office in charge of billions in federal student aid and that ensures America’s colleges provide a quality education.
Kent’s nomination comes as the administration has sought to shut down much of the Department of Education while using it and other federal education policies to dramatically upend the higher education system. The administration has specifically investigated and frozen billions in funding to multiple Ivy League institutions like Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania.
The administration and Columbia University just agreed to a $200 million fine to settle accusations that the New York institution had discriminated against its Jewish community following months of pressure and hundreds of millions in halted federal funding. The settlement is supposed to restore that money.
