New York City's Department of Consumer Affairs is looking into four for-profit colleges amid concerns over student dropout and loan default rates.

Subpoenas were sent to Berkeley College, Mandl School, New York Career Institute, and Technical Career Institute in February, but were made public for the first time Friday, in a report by The New York Times.

DCA Commissioner Julie Menin said the department has received hundreds of complaints from consumers about for-profit colleges in the past few years, and is seeking more information about the schools' recruiting practices and job placement numbers, among other data.

"Some of them have double to triple the student loan default rate of other New York schools, some of them have particularly low graduation rates, and some of them have very high debt to value ratios whereby graduates owe a lot of money but then can't find jobs," Menin said.

She said the department will review the information and determine whether any of the schools violated the city's consumer protection laws.

With The Associated Press