UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT

Regulatory Information Management Services

April 28, 2011

Via Electronic Mail

Ms. Anne Weismann

Citizens for Responsive Ethics in Washington
1400 Eye St., N.W.
Suite 450
Washington DC 20005

RE: FOIA Request No. 10-01704-F

Dear Ms. Weismann:

This letter is the Department’s final response to your letter dated July 23, 2010, requesting access to
Department records pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552 on behalf of
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). Your request was forwarded to the
following offices to search for documents that may be responsive to your request: Office of the
Secretary (OS), Federal Student Aid (FSA), Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs (OLCA),
Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE), Office of the General Counsel (OGC), Office of
Communications and Outreach (OCO), Office of the Undersecretary (OUS), Office of the Deputy
Secretary (ODS), and Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy (OPEPD).

You asked for: 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 Admissions Officers;
9. Mr. Manuel P. Asensio;
10. Any or all individuals identified as officers, directors, or employees of The
Alliance for Economic Stability;
11. Ms. Johnette McConnell Early.
FOIA Request No. 10-01704
Page 2

By letter dated November 23, 2010, you were sent a CD containing 50 pages of documents
responsive to your request. These documents were provided in their entirety.

By letter dated December 3, 2010, you were sent a CD containing 1,174 pages of documents
responsive to your request.

By letter dated December 22, 2010, you were sent one record (four pages) that was located and
may have been responsive to your request.

By letter dated April 15, 2011, you received 80 pages of additional documents responsive to this
request.

By letter dated April 22, 1011, you received 252 pages of additional documents responsive to
this request.

With this letter, you receive 18 pages of documents responsive to this request. In total, you have
received 1508 pages of documents responsive to this request. However, certain information has
been withheld in 154 of these pages according to the FOIA 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 FOIA 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 portions of records relating to personal information is exempt pursuant to 5

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

Provisions of the FOIA allow us to recover the costs pertaining to your request. The Department has
concluded that you fall within the category of “commercial use requester”. 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 FOIA 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 FOIA 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 AVE., S.W., WASHINGTON, DC 20202-4500
www.ed.gov

Our mission is to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence throughout the Nation.
FOIA Request No. 10-01704
Page 3

400 Maryland Avenue, SW, LBJ 2W311

ATTN: Appeals Office
Washington, DC 20202-4500

Or, you may complete the online FOIA appeal form, located at:
http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/foia/foia_appeal_form_1.html.

If you have any questions, please contact the FSC at (202) 401-8365 or
EDFOIAMANAGER@ed.gov.

Sincerely,

Elise Cook
FOIA Public Liaison
FOIA Service Center
Enclosures

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

www.ed.gov

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