Venable of counsel Jonathan Pompan was quoted in an October 22, 2012 article in The Chronicle of Higher Education regarding the incidence of misleading marketing activities by some for-profit colleges. There is concern among regulators that the need for lead generation is resulting in some for-profit colleges implementing questionable marketing campaigns, mostly through third-party marketing firms.
Addressing regulatory concerns, Pompan said, "The responsible advertisers and schools are just as concerned as anyone when they see unsubstantiated or outlandish advertising, but to paint the entire form of advertising with a negative brush is unfair." He added that he and others have recommended that "the higher education lead-generation sector form an organization to self-regulate the industry, with the authority to punish bad actors, which has been successful in similar advertising fields."
Pompan suggested that "There's a real opportunity for schools and third-party advertisers and marketers to work together and form a self-regulatory program to address and minimize the concerns that have been put out there."