This is a big hit to for-profit colleges.

The Wall Street Journal reports.

Department of Education Fines Corinthian’s Heald College

The U.S. Department of Education said Tuesday it is fining Corinthian’s Heald College system nearly $30 million for overstating the job prospects of its graduates.

Following a review, the Department said the college had paid temporary agencies to hire some students for short-term jobs, and had not fully counted students who were unemployed.

“This should be a wake-up call for consumers across the country about the abuses that can exist within the for-profit college sector,” U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in a statement.

Heald offers associate degrees in the health care, business and technology fields, among others.

Earlier this year the California Student Aid Commission suspended payments to Heald Colleges, and Everest Colleges Canada Inc., the Canadian subsidiary of Corinthian, filed for bankruptcy. The blows are the latest against the Corinthian Colleges system, which has been winding down its operations since the Department of Education froze the company’s access to federal student loan funding last summer.

Corinthian officials didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.