It’s Much Broader Than Lobbying Against OPMs

On Ed Tech

Phil Hill

June 5, 2023

Last month I published two posts showing that there is a coalition sharing common funding from a single family that made its initial fortune at Enron, and that this coalition is at the center of efforts to rein in Online Program Management (OPM) companies.

In public and private conversations based on those posts, perhaps the most frequent question was a version of “why do they care so much about OPMs?” or “why are they so focused on OPMs?” With increased discussion of other regulatory proposals that could also have an enormous impact on online learning, it is worth addressing these questions.

I started my analysis last month based on the expansion of third-party servicer (TPS) definitions, but that big oak tree is just one in the forest. I believe the key to answer the why questions is seeing that this Arnold Ventures-funded coalition cares about their definition of consumer protection writ large, and OPMs present one issue that might be addressed with informal regulatory guidance – with the swipe of a digital pen.