The 2019 repeal of the gainful employment rule increased for-profit student vulnerability.

Evidence

Students at for-profit colleges are likely to be increasingly vulnerable in the years ahead, particularly since the 2019 repeal of an Obama-era policy requiring for-profit colleges to prove that their graduates could find gainful employment. And even those who make it through statistically earn less than their peers in similar programs in the public sector. According to a Brookings Institution study, “public sector students outperform for-profit students on nearly every measure, suggesting that the overwhelming majority of for-profit students would be better off attending a public institution. But what if attending a public community college is not an option? Our results suggest that many for-profit students would be better off not attending college at all.” — Dorothy A. Brown, The Whiteness of Wealth, 292