The Department of Education’s announcement last week of a secret shopper program to investigate the recruitment, enrollment, and financial aid practices of schools has garnered mixed reactions. While advocates of access hailed the policy, the for-profit sector and financial aid offices raised worries.
The program will use undercover operatives—“secret shoppers”—to test whether schools are complying with laws governing the federal financial aid program. The shoppers will check whether schools across all higher ed sectors are misleading students and families about credit transferability, job placement rates, and graduates’ future earning potential, among other concerns, according to a press release from the Department of Education.
“Schools that engage in fraud or misconduct are on notice that we may be listening, and they should clean up accordingly,” said Kristen Donoghue, chief enforcement officer of the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA). “But schools that treat current and prospective students fairly and act lawfully have nothing to fear from secret shopping.”
Dr. Oded Gurantz, assistant professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder School of Education
“There’s a long history of colleges, particularly for-profits, not always living up to their end of the bargain,” he said. “Anything that involves the federal government taking a stronger role in monitoring these institutions, I think, is valuable.”
Dr. Kyle Southern, associate vice president of higher education quality for The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS), which has been calling for a secret shopper program and other oversight, agreed.
