The nation's for-profit colleges are reeling from a series of crackdowns by federal and state regulators.
Most of these colleges get almost all their revenue from public funds - loans and grants students use to pay tuition.
Government officials say they make grand promises to students, and then fail to prepare them for real-world jobs.
One of these for-profit schools, Orange County-based Corinthian Colleges, may be close to collapse.
Last week, Corinthian announced a deal to sell off its campuses in other parts of the country.
That leaves an uncertain future for about 20,000 students in California.
Rachael Myrow reports from KQED's Silicon Valley newsdesk.