He said that the family had long planned the move to the nonprofit sector, laying the groundwork in 1998, when it first bought a small Florida college and later converted it to the nonprofit Everglades. Keiser now offers 100 degrees and certificates in subjects that include baking and pastry arts, nursing and political science.

As for any financial conflicts of interest, he said: “We disclosed everything. There’s nothing wrong with it.”

Dr. Keiser, who is the House Republicans’ appointee to the Education Department panel that oversees accreditation, formerly was chairman of the governing board of the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities, which filed a lawsuit in November challenging new federal regulations. These require for-profit colleges and trade schools to show that their students will eventually earn enough money to pay their student loans.

The rules are a result of longstanding complaints that the industry lures mostly poor and minority students with misleading information about the value of the schools’ degrees and costs, and then saddles them with onerous debt.

According to estimates from the Obama administration, about 1,400 programs that enroll 840,000 students would fail the new gainful employment rules. If they do, the government can impose sanctions that could eventually lead to a cutoff of federal student aid and loans, the schools’ lifeblood. For-profit colleges receive roughly $30 billion a year in taxpayer-funded student aid.

Some institutions are already struggling. The giant for-profit chain Corinthian Colleges, which once took in $1.4 billion a year in taxpayer funds, has virtually collapsed after a series of state and federal inquiries and lawsuits.

For-profit schools vigorously opposed the newest rules, arguing that they would ruin institutions that serve students who have few other educational options. Defenders point out that some have better graduation records than community colleges and are much better at responding to a changing job market.