UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT

Regulatory Information Management Services

December 3,2010
Ms. Anne 1. Weismann
CREW
1400 Eye St., N.W.
Suite 450
Washington DC 20005

RE: FOIA Request No.1 0-01704-F

Dear Ms. Weismann,

This is the final response to your letter dated July 23, 2010 requesting information pursuant to
the Freedom ofInformation Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552. Your request was forwarded to the
appropriate offices within the Department of Education (the Department) for any responsive
documents they may have.

You requested that a copy of the following documents or documents containing the following
information be provided to you:

The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) makes this request for
records, regardless of format, medium, or physical characteristics, and including electronic
records and information, pursuant to the Freedom ofInformation Act, (ForA), 5 U.S.C. § 552,
and U.S. Department of Education (Education) FOIA Regulations, 34 C.F.R. § § 5.1, et seq.
Specifically, CREW seeks any and all records of or reflecting communications from April 20,
2009, to the present to, from, and/or between officials at Education regarding for-profit education
and any and all of the following:

1. Mr. Steven Eisman;

2. Any or all individuals identified as officers, directors, or employees of FrontPoint
Partners, LLC;
3. Any or all individuals identified as officers, directors, or employees of Morgan Stanley
Investment Management, Inc.
4. Deputy Undersecretary of Education Robert Shireman;
5. Ms. Pauline Abernathy;
6. Any or all individuals identified as officers, directors, or employees of the Institute for
College Access and Success;
7. Mr. Barmak Nassirian;
8. Any or all individuals identified as officers, directors, or employees of the American
Association of Collegiate Registrars and Adimssions Officers;
9. Mr. Manuel P. Asensio;
10. Any or all individuals identified as officers, directors, or employees of The Alliance
for Economic Stability;

400 MARYLAND AVE., S.W., WASHINGTON, DC 20202-4500

www.ed.goY

Our mission is to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence throughout the Nation.
Page 2 - Anne Weisman
FOIA No. 10-01704-F

11. Ms. 10hnette McConnell Early.

On October 21,2010 in a conversation with the Department, you agreed to narrow the scope of
FOIA Case o. 10-01704-F as follows:

You clarified that, to the extent that your request seeks internal Depm1mental communications
regarding for-profit education, you are seeking only internal communications regarding any
Departmental communications with the outside entities listed in your FOIA request. You also
continue to seek records reflecting external communications as described in your request.

Your clarified request was forwarded to the appropriate office(s) within the Department to search
for documents that may be responsive to your request.

Enclosed in the Department's November 23, 2010 interim letter, you received the following:

The staff in the Office of Legislation & Congressional Affairs (OLCA) notified the FOIA
Service Center that they do not have any documents that are responsive to your request.

The staff in the Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development (OPEPD) provided the
FOIA Service Center the following responsive documents to your request:

• OPEPD responsive docs - 42 pages

The staff in the Office of Communication and Outreach (OCO) has provided the FOIA Service
Center the following responsive documents to your request:

• OCO emails - 8 pages

Enclosed in this final response is a CD containing 1,174 pages of documents responsive to your
request.

The staff in the Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE) provided the FOIA Service Center the
following responsive documents to your request:

• OPE responsive docs - 1,354 pages

The staff in the Office of the Undersecretary (OUS) has provided the FOIA Service
Center the following responsive documents to your request:

• OUS emails - 506 pages

400 MARYLAND AYE., S. W., WASHINGTON, DC 20202-4500

www.ed.gov

Our mission is to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellellce throughout the Nation.
Page 3 - Anne Weisman
FOrA No. 10-01704-F

However, certain information has been withheld according to the FOrA exemptions specified
below:

Records or portions of records relating to pre-decisional internal communications have been

withheld pursuant to 5 U.S.c. § 552 (b)(5) of the FOrA and Departmental regulation 34 CFR
§5.73(a). These provisions require us to withhold the government's deliberative process
privilege, inter alia, protecting records of pre-decisional internal communications reflecting the
views or recommendations of agency employees in connection with the government policy or
legal matters that are both pre-decisional and deliberative in nature.

Records or pmiions of records relating to personal information is exempt pursuant to 5

U.S.c. §552 (b)(6) of the FOrA and Departmental regulation 34 CFR § 5.71(a). Disclosure of
this information would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.

Provisions of the FOrA allow us to recover the costs peliaining to your request. However, the
Department has provided you with this information at no charge. The Department's release of
this information at no cost does not constitute the grant of a fee waiver, and does not infer or
imply that you will be granted a fee waiver for future requests made under FOrA to the
Department. Because we were able to locate and process these documents at minimal costs, they
are provided to you at no cost.

You have the right to appeal the FOrA exemption decision by writing to the address below, 30
days from the date of this letter. Your appeal should be accompanied by a copy of your initial
letter of request and this denial letter, and should contain any evidence or argument you wish the
Department to consider in making an administrative determination on your appeal.

Appeal Address:
U.S. Department of Education
Office of Management
400 Maryland Avenue, SW, LBJ 2W311
ATTN: Appeals Office
Washington, DC 20202-4500

Or, you may complete the online FOrA appeal form, located at:
http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/foia/foia appeal fmID 1.html.

rf you have any questions, please contact the FSC at (202) 401-8365 or
EDFOrAMA AGER@ed.gov.
Sincerely,

Elise Cook
FOrA Public Liaison
.FOrA Service Center
Enclosures: CD/Letter
400 MARYLAND AVE., S.W., WASHINGTON, DC 20202-4500
www.ed.goY

Our mission is to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence throughout the Nation.