For-profit colleges have their place in higher education, but too many operators have proved to be incredibly bad actors over the years, making reasonable rules meant to protect students the smart play.

During the Obama presidency, the Department of Education put in place regulations that its new secretary, Betsy DeVos, has stalled and appears to be preparing to scrap. We hope her new group of rule-makers considering the Obama-era guardrails sees their benefit.

The Obama administration rules were developed in consideration of extensive public hearings, negotiations and 95,000 public comments. When it announced its rules, the administration noted that on average, a two-year for-profit institution cost a student four times as much as a community college. About 80 percent of the for-profit students took on loans, while less than half of traditional students did so.

Read more at The Denver Post.