Attack on College Recruiting Drafted by Investor’s Researcher

A letter calling for U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan to strengthen regulation of for-profit colleges that recruit students in homeless shelters was drafted by a researcher working for an investor betting against the publicly traded education companies.

Johnette Early drafted the letter with input from shelter workers and enlisted 20 workers, administrators and advocates to sign it, she said in an e-mail on July 9. Early’s role in writing the letter, which said for-profit colleges were “preying” on the homeless, was reported July 9 by ProPublica, a New York-based nonprofit news outlet. The Education Department responded to the letter without knowing of Early’s involvement or her connection to a short-seller, saying that it was working to punish recruiting abuses at education companies.