Experts know sex trafficking in higher education to be a widespread problem.
In 2021, SHSF’s report on sex trafficking in higher education was featured on the front page of USA Today and subsequently sparked both state and federal investigations.
One year later, a new toolkit is available to assist state authorizers confronting this issue in their work.
While the SHSF scan did not capture national data about scope and scale of sex trafficking in higher education, it is clear that a set of state authorizers and massage education experts believe it to be a widespread problem, particularly in state-authorized vocational programs like massage therapy and cosmetology.
SHSF’s brief highlights a recent case where a state authorizer ordered the closure of an institution due to an explicit suspicion of sex trafficking, and the subsequent processes that enabled that school to continue operations without losing Title IV eligibility.
The outpouring of interest from state regulators prompted our newest grants to the Colorado State Department of Higher Education and Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards, where industry experts jointly developed a much-needed anti-trafficking toolkit for state regulators focused on higher education.
We invite you to read the brief or request the new toolkit. To join the conversation about trafficking in higher education, follow us on Twitter.
“Everybody did everything they could here,” Abigail 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?”
— “A Pipeline to America’s Sex Trade? Spa ‘Diploma Mills’ Found Across US” in USA Today, 7/7/2021
“The Subcommittee would like to work together to determine if any other federal funds are unknowingly being provided to bad actors, and I look forward to pursuing our shared goal of protecting against trafficking in America’s schools.”
—Chairman Krishnamoorthi, Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, House Committee on Oversight and Reform, 7/7/2021