For-profit colleges under investigation...

August 4, 2010

An undercover investigation revealed that recruiters at four of 15 for-profit colleges encouraged prospective students to lie on their financial applications, and all the schools provided misinformation about their institutions' costs, quality and graduation statistics, The New York Times reported Aug. 3 (see for-profit colleges story). The report from Congress' Government Accountability Office does not name the schools involved.

"Additional billionaires," who as yet are unnamed, will follow the lead of billionaire investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett by pledging to donate the majority of their wealth to charity, says a statement from the Giving Pledge, Bloomberg reported Aug. 3 (see Billionaire philanthropists story). Buffett and other donors are expected to take questions about their plans tomorrow.

Venture Philanthropy Partners awarded $5.5 million to the Knowledge Is Power program, which serves low-income children in the Washington region, to double the number of students attending high-performing charter schools in the Washington, D.C.-area by 2015, The Washington Post reported Aug. 2 (see Venture Philanthropy story).

Compared to other recent disasters, the charitable response from individuals and corporations to the BP oil spill is slow, with only $4 million donated in the first six weeks after the explosion, the Chronicle of Philanthropy said, compared to the $580 million donated in the eight days following Hurricane Katrina, The New York Times reported Aug. 2 (see BP spill donations story).

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