The U.S. House Committee on Appropriations released a report Wednesday accompanying a fiscal 2023 funding bill for the Ed Department and other agencies. The report said the committee was “deeply concerned” about online program management companies, or OPMs. These companies contract with colleges to provide services — including marketing, recruitment and course design — for their online programs. In exchange, the companies often get a cut of the programs’ revenue, usually between 40% and 60%. The committee took a harsh stance against OPMs, arguing that the tuition-share agreements they hold with colleges create “perverse incentives that drive up costs, waste taxpayer dollars, and rip off students.”
