"Massage schools across the US are suspected of ties to prostitution and selling fake diplomas. Many remain open.”
The Seldin/Haring-Smith Foundation, a family foundation focused on accountability in higher education, identified the Minnesota school and others in a report it presented Tuesday to the Department of Education. A subcommittee from the House Oversight Committee on Tuesday gave the Education Department two weeks to outline its procedures to “identify and stop human or sex trafficking connected with postsecondary education,” citing the foundation's report. The committee also requested a list of cosmetology and massage schools receiving taxpayer money controlled by the department.
Abigail Seldin, a founder of the Seldin/Haring-Smith Foundation and recent contender for a Department of Education position, said it was troubling to see institutions continue to operate after concerns were raised, especially in the case of the Minnesota school.
“Everybody did everything they could here,” Seldin said. “Our current regulatory structure doesn't empower them to do anything more than what happened. So we have to ask: Is it enough?”
As part of the Seldin/Haring-Smith Foundationʼs research, senior fellow Ellie Bruecker, contacted dozens of state authorizers and licensing boards to ask how they handle colleges suspected of being involved in human trafficking. Of the 57 that responded, a majority told her they hadnʼt heard about the issue, or they denied sex trafficking was happening in their state. She and Seldin said that because multiple state regulators often oversee the massage industry, officials from one agency might not know everything they should look for. Additionally, some agencies operate on thin budgets with skeletal staffs, hampering their ability to conduct investigations.
Seldin asked: Would a state authorizer even be able to spot the issue if it was happening at one of their schools? “Itʼs hard to look for something youʼve never heard of,” she said.
Local laws can limit how much power a stateʼs office of higher education has to approve or monitor colleges. The foundation is advocating for a nationwide set of standards for these offices to combat not only trafficking concerns, but also issues tied to lackluster education programs that donʼt lead to well-paying careers. Seldin said governors should ensure these state offices are adequately staffed and have a big enough budget to monitor their local institutions.
Read the full piece on USA Today.
