Nonprofit College Chain Sues Education Department for $500M
Katherine Knott
December 8, 2022
A nonprofit operator of several colleges that have since closed is accusing the U.S. Department of Education of waging a hostile campaign against for-profit colleges.
The Center for Excellence in Higher Education, a nonprofit, filed its lawsuit Tuesday in the Federal Court of Claims, seeking $500 million in damages for breach of contract, breach of good faith and illegal taking of funds, among other claims.
CEHE operated College America, Independence University, Stevens-Henager College and California College San Diego—all degree-granting proprietary colleges. The nonprofit sought to convert the colleges from for-profit institutions to nonprofit ones.
“The department and for-profit critics simply refused to let proprietary colleges shed the for-profit stigma they worked so hard to create,” the complaint states. “Rather, they opened their tool chest to wage a near decade long attack on CEHE, forcing its inevitable closure.”
