A for-profit college shut down by the Obama administration in December is back in Wisconsin under new ownership, with four locations enrolling new students in career-education programs.

Globe University had campuses in Eau Claire, La Crosse, Madison, Appleton and Wausau before it was shut down. All but the for-profit college's La Crosse campus will now re-open as Broadview University, the new owner.

The resurgence is big news because for-profit colleges have been falling, one by one, in recent years due to crackdowns by federal and state agencies on schools that target low-income applicants with the promise of careers, but that have low job placement rates and students carrying high loan debt.

Broadview University is part of a network of small for-profit colleges and had taken on students left short of a degree when Globe shut down, using Globe's Wisconsin campuses and instructors. About 430 students at Globe University were affected by the shutdown, and most chose to finish under the temporary arrangement with Broadview, according to the state's Educational Approval Board, which regulates for-profit schools.

Broadview had wanted to buy Globe's Wisconsin locations and enroll more students earlier, but it only recently got approval for the deal from the U.S. Department of Education, Inside Higher Ed reported Wednesday.

Industry observers have suggested accountability regulations for for-profit colleges could loosen under the Trump administration, based on a series of preliminary policy moves. Whether that means for-profits will regain a foothold under the Trump administration remains to be seen.

"They have pulled back from what many clearly saw as a very aggressive stance with for-profit institutions" under the Obama administration, David Dies, executive director of Wisconsin's Educational Approval Board, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Wednesday.

The Trump administration signaled in June that it would block a rule that clarifies how student borrowers can have loans forgiven if they were defrauded or misled by their college, Inside Higher Ed reported last month. The administration also wants to revisit the gainful-employment rule that holds vocational programs and programs at for-profits accountable for graduates with hefty student-loan debt.

Inside Higher Ed reported that the re-emergence of a for-profit in Wisconsin was made possible in part by the Trump administration, but it's also because of the blessing of the state's embattled Educational Approval Board, which has a reputation for being a tenacious state regulator of for-profits. Dies said the board has a different view of the issues surrounding Globe.

Republican Gov. Scott Walker has been working for the past two years toward shutting down the independent Educational Approval Board and moving its role under state government. Under the 2017-'19 state budget now awaiting final legislative approval, the board would be eliminated and oversight of for-profits would move to the state Department of Safety and Professional Services. As part of that change, the EAB executive director's position, held for years by Dies, would be eliminated.

Why Globe University failed

Globe University's complicated ownership arrangement ultimately led to its demise.

Globe was owned by the family of Terry Myhre, which also owned the for-profit Minnesota School of Business. Both for-profits were closed in December when a Minnesota court ruled that they had engaged in consumer fraud and deceptive trade practices by misrepresenting job opportunities for graduates of a criminal justice program.

The two for-profits advertised an associate degree in criminal justice for aspiring probation officers, despite a requirement in Minnesota that probation officers hold at least a bachelor’s degree.

Wisconsin law enforcement officers must complete police academy training before they can become probation officers, which meant the marketing in Wisconsin was not fraudulent, Dies told the Journal Sentinel.

The Obama administration still blocked federal student financial aid payments to both Globe and the Minnesota School of Business, which bled the colleges' major funding source.

When Broadview University began pursuing the purchase of the Globe Wisconsin campuses, it argued the campuses should not be lumped in with the Minnesota School of Business just because they had common ownership. Broadview petitioned the U.S. Department of Education to re-examine what it considered to be an overly broad penalty.

"The Trump administration apparently bought that argument, reversing a December decision by the Obama administration that blocked Broadview’s bid to buy the Globe campuses, due in part to concerns about the common ownership structure," Inside Higher Ed explained Wednesday.

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Dies said the Educational Approval Board was in favor of Broadview University purchasing the Globe Wisconsin campuses last fall so students could seamlessly continue their education.

Roughly half of Globe's students in Wisconsin were training to be veterinary technicians, and a significant number were training to be medical assistants, he said. Globe had about 50 programs, but that number will be closer to 30 under new ownership, Dies said.

Globe University at one time enrolled more than 1,900 Wisconsin students across seven campuses, according to federal data. Those campuses issued 508 degrees and certificates in the 2014-'15 academic year.

Terry Myhre, who with his children owned Globe University, also has an ownership stake in Utah-based Broadview University, Dies confirmed.

Broadview still must find an accreditor for the four campuses in Wisconsin it is re-opening.