Westwood College, a for-profit education company in Denver, Colo., has hired Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck as its industry battles critics on several fronts in Washington.
The registration was effective Aug. 16 and received on Friday, according to U.S. Senate records. The National Law Journal reported Monday that several other for-profit higher education companies have hired lobbyists and lawyers in the past month as they prepare to defend how they operate.
The U.S. Department of Education is considering new rules for the industry, and the U.S. Government Accountability Office recently released the results of an undercover investigation. Meanwhile, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, has launched his own investigation, requesting documents from 30 companies. Westwood’s parent company, Alta Colleges Inc., is among those 30 companies.
A Westwood spokesman had no comment. Alfred Mottur, co-chair of Brownstein Hyatt’s government relations practice, also had no comment. The registration lists Mottur, policy directors Gina Mahony and Larry LaRocco, and senior policy adviser Kerrie Bentfield.
Westwood was not previously registered with a lobbyist, though Alta Colleges was registered with Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal from May 2008 until January 2010.
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