Say it "ain't" so: Washington Post article: For-profit colleges urged applicants to lie to leverage more aid, GAO finds

Makes me cringe to think about what this article says. My wife hates when I use the contraction "ain't," but say it ain't so.

For-profit colleges urged applicants to lie to leverage more aid, GAO finds

Using secret shopping approaches in its methodology, the Washington Post article states a number of cases of shoddy recruitment and application practices among for-profit education institutions. A side of me wants to hope that the article is based on the extreme weaknesses of journalism (but this is the Washington Post reporting) and the accusations are exaggerated or that an institution had a bad day. However, the article suggests otherwise and that in truth, something poor really did happen.

Knowing a number of credible leaders at some for-profits, I only hope that they are not part of this mix of questionnable practices. I also realize that some of these practices may also be present in the "not-for-profit" or traditional college/university experience.

Minimally, while no one wants to hear bad news regarding the education of our society, what I hope comes out of this is a higher standard for education, marketing and the recruitment process. I only hope that greater details come out regarding this mess and until then I need to show patience about over-reacting.