Education is expensive. And in today’s economy, many students graduate college, only to find themselves without many opportunities.

In this environment, schools that teach useful skills — for a recession-friendly price – like culinary institutes, trade schools and for-profit institutions, are growing.

At the same time, these institutions are attracting attention from the Obama Administration — and from stock short sellers who see America’s student loan-borrowers as the next class of victims whose misfortune will make them a fortune.

(Sadly, some for-profits educational institutions have engaged in unethical practices, such as predatory lending.  CEO pay for many of these for-profits is also ridiculously high — many presidents of these for-profit schools make more than presidents of Ivy League schools.  These bad apples have opened the door for more government interference).

Of course, the administration is not operating without the influence of it’s friends on Wall Street.

Last March, when Deputy Undersecretary of Education Robert Shireman attacked for-profit colleges in a speech, the colleges’ stock values tumbled, losing the companies around $1.6 billion in a single day. The cause and effect of whispers of government regulations causing markets to tumble didn’t go unnoticed.

In May, short seller king Steven Eisman, who made billions betting against the market as Wall Street banks bought billions in bad loans, called for-profit education the next ripe area to profit from short selling.

As Daily Finance reported:

In a May 26 speech to the Ira Sohn Conference in Manhattan, a charitable organization where guests pay to listen to hedge funds pitch investment ideas, Eisman likened for-profit education loans to subprime mortgages. That’s because the banks use government money, received through a program called Title IV, to lend money to people who may not be able to repay it, so they can attend online education programs that most of them don’t complete.

Regardless of whether or not Eisman’s analysis is accurate, if government regulations force losses in the for-profit education industry, people like Eisman — who bet against success — stand to make millions.

This is not to say short selling is inherently bad.  In general, hedge-fund managers who focus on shorting stocks are smart who look for over-valued companies, flaws, and fads coming to an end.  Most would never lobby Congress — and that’s exactly what Eisman has done.

Eisman himself is a central figure, testifying in front of the Senate in June about the apocalyptic prospects of the proprietary college industry, warning of $275 billion in student loan defaults sometime in the next decade if Congress did not step in and regulate the industry. His testimony caused those same for-profit education stocks to fall, this time an average of 6 – 8 percent — a fall that made him a profit.

Short sellers’ actions have yet to be investigated for wrongdoing, but a lawsuit is in the initial stages regarding one such example.  Regardless, the notion that Wall Street and government should join forces in this manner — against a for-profit industry — is a bit unsettling.

Note: I’ll be guest blogging at HotAir these next few days.  Check out my Politics Daily column, my blog at MattLewis.org, and follow me on Twitter.