In 2019, Career Education Corp. agreed to forgive $493 million in student debt in a settlement with attorneys general from 48 states and the District of Columbia, closing out a 5-year investigation. The company denied wrongdoing. In September 2019, Perdoceo reached a $30 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over its fraudulent use of lead generation websites to lure students. In June 2020, an internal employee whistleblower exposed the potentially unethical interference in their job by Diane Auer Jones, currently principal deputy undersecretary at the Education Department. Jones was “vice president of regulatory and external affairs for Career Education Corporation, where she was responsible for companywide regulatory operations, licensure and accreditation, government affairs, among others things, and oversaw the organization's political action committee.” Also in 2020, the Department of Veterans Affairs threatened to cut off funding to Colorado Technical Institute and American Intercontinental University. The Trump Administration, however, sided with the for-profit schools.