US: For-profit drops suit against community college

When Fort Lauderdale-based Keiser University took one of Florida's community college's to court last month for slander, the suit garnered national attention as evidence of just how nasty the debate over for-profit colleges had become, writes Michael Vasquez for The Miami Herald.

On Wednesday last week, Keiser - a for-profit institution that initially accused Florida State College at Jacksonville of orchestrating a "destructive media campaign" - took a step back and announced it had voluntarily agreed to abandon its lawsuit. Keiser vigorously opposes a US Department of Education proposal calling for tighter oversight of for-profit colleges - new rules that Florida State College administrators have openly supported.

Though both sides agreed to shake hands and move on, Florida State College General Counsel Jeanne Miller said her college will continue to advocate for new federal scrutiny of for-profits, including a hotly contested provision that would disqualify for-profit degree programmes from federal funds if too many graduates are unable to pay back their student loans. "This always has been and will continue to be about consumer protection," Miller said.
Full report on The Miami Herald site