Briana KoenemanA special team at the Education Department tasked with investigating widespread fraud by for-profit colleges has essentially been dismantled — this according to The New York Times.
Sources told the outlet members of that team have been "marginalized, reassigned or instructed to focus on other matters."
And as a result, investigations into institutions where top hires of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos used to work have been "effectively killed."
The team was first created back in 2016 after investigators found evidence of widespread fraud at for-profit giant Corinthian Colleges.
As The New York Times notes, that prompted students to accuse other for-profit schools of abuses, like misrepresenting enrollment benefits, job placement rates and program offerings.
A spokesperson for the Education Department told the Times the team lost members because of attrition. And she said investigations are just one way that the team contributes to the department's efforts to provide oversight.
