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Investigator sticks by its finding that colleges misled applicants


BY NICK ANDERSON The Government Accountabil-


ity Office has revised portions of a report it released last summer on recruiting practices in for- profit higher education, soften- ing several examples from an undercover investigation but standing by its central finding that colleges had encouraged fraud andmisled potential appli- cants. The revisions have come as the


Obama administration and se- nior Democratic lawmakers are pushing for tougher regulation of the industry. A Republican sena- tor said the revisions called into question some of the conclusions in the report. The original report, issued


Aug. 4 in testimony to the Senate Committee onHealth,Education, Labor and Pensions, examined recruiting practices at 15 for- profit colleges, including cam- puses operated by the Apollo Group, Corinthian Colleges and The Washington Post Co.’s Ka- plan unit. Undercover GAO investigators


posed as prospective students in encounters with college repre- sentatives that were captured in audio and video recordings. The GAO is a nonpartisan investiga- tive armof Congress. Its widely reported findings


were amajor political setback for the industry, and executives apol- ogized for incidents that put their schools in an embarrassing light. Industry critics said the report buttressed their case as they pushed for a new rule requiring that for-profit colleges demon- strate that their courses lead to “gainful employment” for their students or lose access to lucra- tive federal student aid pro- grams. The share prices for several


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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2010 GAO revises its report critical of practices at for-profit schools


for-profit education companies fell sharply after the report’s release, and the industry has sincemounted an aggressive lob- bying and advertising campaign portraying administrationefforts to impose new regulations as a threat to educational access for students underserved by tradi- tional colleges.


Key passages altered The revisedreport,postedNov.


30 on the GAOWeb site, changed some key passages. In one anec- dote cited as an example of de- ceptivemarketing, the GAO orig- inally reported: “Undercover ap- plicant was told that he could earn up to $100 an hour as a massage therapist. While this may be possible, according to the [Bureau of Labor Statistics] 90 percent of all massage therapists in California make less than $34 per hour.” The revised version states:


“While one school representative indicated to the undercover ap- plicant that he could earn up to $30 an hour as a massage thera- pist, another representative told the applicant that the school’s massage instructors and direc- tors can earn $150-$200 an hour. While this may be possible, ac- cording to the BLS, 90 percent of all massage therapists in Califor- niamake less than $34 per hour.” In another example, the report


originally stated that a college representative “told the under- cover applicant that by the time the college would be required by [the] Education [Department] to verify any information about the applicant, the applicant would have already graduated from the 7-month program.” The revised version states that


“the undercover applicant sug- gested” that possibility and the “representative acknowledged this was true.” There were several other sig-


nificant edits to the examples detailed in the report. GAO spokesman Chuck Young wrote in an e-mail that the office


issues revisionswhen “additional information comes to light and provides additional context to our already published work.” Of the roughly 1,000 reports issued in the last fiscal year, about 12 received later revisions, he said. He added that the office reviewed more than80hours of audio from the investigation before it re- leased the revision on the for- profit college report. “Nothing changed with the


overallmessage of the report, and nothing changed with any of our findings,” Young wrote.


‘Troubling questions’ Sen. Mike Enzi (Wyo.), the


committee’s ranking Republican, wrote in a letter Tuesday to the acting comptroller, Gene L. Do- daro, who heads the GAO, that the revisions raise “a number of troubling questions.” Enzi wrote that the revisions


appear “substantial” and “under- mine many of the allegations” in theGAOreport.He askedDodaro to withdraw the testimony and explain in detailwhy the changes weremade. Justine Sessions, a spokes-


woman for Sen. Tom Harkin (D- Iowa), the committee chairman, said the revisions “do not change the substance of the report” or its conclusions that the for-profit colleges investigated “used de- ceptive or fraudulent recruiting techniques to enroll new stu- dents.” Lanny Davis, a spokesman for


the Coalition for Educational Success, which represents some for-profit colleges, said the revi- sions in the report appeared on thewhole to portray the industry less harshly. None of the revi- sions, he said,made the industry look worse. “The entire credibility of this


report is called into question,” Davis said. Education Department


spokesman Justin Hamilton said the department would have no comment on the revisions. andersonn@washpost.com


Redskins suspend disgruntled Haynesworth for rest of season redskins from A1


because it’s in the best interest of the team, and I consider every- body.” Thedecisioncappedmonths of


drama that has surrounded the team since shortly after Shanah- an,who has two SuperBowl rings as a head coach and doesn’t cede control often or suffer malcon- tents gladly, arrived in town in January. Haynesworth boycotted offseason workouts, skipped a mandatory minicamp, requested a trade, repeatedly failed the team’s conditioning test and re- sisted coaches’ efforts to change his position and role on the defensive line. Haynesworth’s suspension


comesnear the endof yet another lost season, one that began with considerable optimism prompt- ed by an overhaul of the coaching staff and roster, but almost surely will end, yet again, with the Redskins sitting out the playoffs. Haynesworth nowjoins the list of expensive, marquee free agents who came to the Redskins with much fanfare — safety Adam Archuleta, cornerback Deion Sanders, linebacker Jeremiah Trotter and quarterback Jeff George among them — but de- part with scant accomplish- ments, and sometimesmuch con- troversy. That list all but defines the last


decade for a franchise that has had seven head coaches since it won itsmost recent division title in 1999. Haynesworth fits among itsmost prominent characters. “Everybody knowshowstrong-


minded he is,” linebacker Andre Carter said of Haynesworth. “Ev- erybody knows the issues that were going on fromlast season to this season. For us, the rest of the players, we just got tired of it.” Shanahan asserted in a state-


ment releasedthroughthe club— and later in the telephone inter- view — that Haynesworth disre- garded coaches during practice and refused to play in certain situations. “And the reason he said he


doesn’t want to play in those situations is, he wants to play in passing situations, not running situations,” Shanahan said by phone. “I’ve never had a player say anything like that to me before.” Haynesworth, 29, is expected


to appeal the suspension. A spokesman for the NFL Players Association said Tuesday the union is investigating thematter. Four games is themaximumsus- pension for conduct detrimental to the team under the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement with the players union. “The accusations made by


Coach Shanahan and Bruce Allen are vague and without merit,” Haynesworth’s agent, Chad Speck, said in a statement re- leased Tuesday evening. Haynesworthcame to the team


as a free agent in February 2009 after playing in two Pro Bowls in his previous seven seasons with the Tennessee Titans. Snyder raised eyebrows across the Na- tional Football League when he gave Haynesworth a seven-year contract that could have been worth as much as $115 million and included $41million in guar- anteed money, at the time the most in league history. “I want to do almost the same


thing IdidinTennessee,”Haynes- worth said then. But he never did, instead hav-


ing minimal impact in less than two seasons. He started only 12 games as a Redskin. If the suspension stands,


Haynesworth will lose $847,059. But he’s already been paid nearly $35 million by the Redskins in bonus and salarymoney for play- ing 20 football games. The Redskins gave him a $21


million bonus check in April, believed to be the largest check written in NFL history. Because they’ve cited conduct detrimen-


tal to the team, the teamcould try to recoup some of that money, though precedent suggests they would have a difficult time. Under the terms of his original


contract, Haynesworth was due $5.4 million in 2011, but that money is no longer guaranteed and theRedskinsnowcanrelease or trade Haynesworth without penalty. Most of the people who


brought Haynesworth on board —executive vice president Vinny Cerrato, coachJimZornandGreg Blache, the team’s defensive coor- dinator — did not survive the fallout from a 4-12 record in 2009. Their replacements — Al- len, Shanahan and Jim Haslett, the coordinator charged with transforming the team’s defen- sive philosophy — failed to con- vert Haynesworth to their new way of doing business. Upset with the team’s offsea-


son defensive changes, which he felt limited his ability to make big, game-changing plays, Haynesworth found himself at odds with Shanahan for the past 11 months. He appeared in only eight of the team’s 12 games this season and then only as a role player. Haynesworth’s agent said the


team had not formally warned Haynesworth prior to Tuesday’s suspension that his actions were unacceptable. “Since training camp began,


today’s notice was the first that Albert received informing him that his conduct was not consis- tent with the ‘terms of his con- tract’ asCoach Shanahan claims,” Speck said. The final straw for the organi-


zation appeared to be Haynes- worth’s actions over the past week. Coaches were not pleased with his practice habits last


“I’ve been doing this a long time and one thing you know is you want players committed to your team.” —Coach Mike Shanahan on Albert Haynesworth’s suspension


Thursday and Friday. Haynes- worth said he was sick. He con- ceded that he did visit a bar last Thursday night but said it did not affect his practice Friday. Though the Redskins desper-


ately needed a win Sunday to keep their playoff hopes alive, Shanahan benchedHaynesworth against the New York Giants, a game Washington lost, 31-7, in embarrassing fashion. Haynes- worth said he disagreed with the decision and made his feelings known to Allen on Monday. Sha- nahan said in his statement that Haynesworth told Allen that he would no longer speak to the coach. “I’ve been doing this a long


time and one thing you know is you want players committed to your team,” Shanahan said by phone. “Playing for each other, and not for themselves.” Haynesworth was credited with 21 tackles and 21/2


sacks in


eight games this season. In two years, he totaled 77 tackles and 61/2


sacks. He also led the team in un-


wanted attention. He bickered with Zorn during a Christmas Day 2009 practice — from which he was expelled — and occasion- ally came up lame during games


JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST Defensive lineman AlbertHaynesworth has already been paid $35 million by the Redskins, this after signing as a free agent in February 2009 and playing less than two seasons.


andmissed practice time due to a rare condition called rhabdomy- olysis. Off the field, he was sued by a Florida exotic dancer who claimed Haynesworth impreg- nated her. Shanahan was mostly con-


cerned with Haynesworth’s on- field work. After skipping the team’s offseason workouts, Haynesworth reported to train- ing camp, during which Shanah- anforcedhimtopass a condition- ing test that consisted of two timed 300-yard shuttle sprints. It tookHaynesworth10 days to pass and join his teammates on the practice field. He failed three times, once because a bathroom break took too long. Playerswill gather at Redskins


Park on Wednesday without Haynesworth to begin prepara- tions for the Tampa Bay Bucca- neers, this weekend’s opponent. But what Haynesworth gave Washingtonfor 21months and 20 games — at a cost of millions of dollars to Snyder and countless hours of frustration for fans — won’t soon be forgotten. maeser@washpost.com jenkinss@washpost.com


Staff writers Jason Reid and Barry Svrluga contributed to this report.


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