Nation's Biggest For-Profit Colleges Suffer Enrollment Declines

By Goldie Blumenstyk

Two years' worth of the most intense public scrutiny in their history is having an impact on many of the country's biggest for-profit higher-education companies. For most, after a decade of double-digit growth, enrollments are declining, along with revenues and profits.

The companies, several of which have reported their 2011 fiscal-year results in the past few weeks, say the negative publicity about their colleges from Congressional hearings, lawsuits, and state investigations is a