Given the fact that rates of federal student loan default rates are the highest since 1995, one has to wonder about the real reasons behind a lawsuit brought by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) against ITT Educational Services, Inc.

The agency claims that the for-profit company engaged in predatory lending by pushing its students into high-cost private loans likely to default.

The bureau’s lawsuit marks its first enforcement action against a for-profit college and is an indication, some observers said, of how seriously and aggressively the watchdog agency — which officially turns three years old this July — plans to use its enforcement powers in this contentious, politically charged sector of higher education.

The complaint accuses ITT of pressuring students into predatory loans and misleading consumers about their colleges’ job placement rates, accreditation and the transferability of credits. The CFPB alleges that the company developed a private loan program that coerced borrowers into high-interest loans that ITT knew were likely to fail and, by the company’s own projection, had default rates as high as 64 percent.

“We believe ITT used high-pressure tactics to push many consumers into expensive loans destined to default,” CFPB Director Richard Cordray said in announcing the lawsuit. “Today’s action should serve as a warning to the for-profit college industry that we will be vigilant about protecting students against predatory lending tactics.”

The CFPB said the abuses at ITT took place between mid-July and December 2011 and violated the Dodd-Frank Act’s ban on unfair, deceptive or abusive practices as well as the Truth in Lending Act. The suit seeks an unspecified amount in civil penalties and restitution for victims as well as an injunction against the company.

The bureau’s action Wednesday had been foreshadowed by disclosures in recent months and years that the CFPB was investigating for-profit colleges’ institutional loan programs. Corinthian Colleges has also said it is the subject of an investigation by the bureau.

Cordray declined to discuss those other investigations but called the lawsuit “a first step for the consumer bureau.”

“An important message being sent today is there are numerous [enforcement] pipelines now focused on this problem,” he said, referring to the CFPB and the state attorneys general investigating the sector.

Officials at ITT, whose share price fell more than 9 percent on Wednesday, declined to discuss the lawsuit in detail.

“We don’t comment on pending litigation other than to say that we believe the bureau’s claims are without merit and we intend to vigorously defend ourselves against the charges,” said Nicole Elam, a company spokeswoman.