For-profit education companies are focusing on reputation management as policymakers in Washington call for increased industry regulations.

In the past month, critics have intensified their focus on the for-profit higher education industry, which includes companies like the University of Phoenix, Education Management Corporation, Kaplan, and DeVry University.

The Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee held a hearing June 24 to assess the increasing amount of federal investment in the industry and whether industry issues, which reportedly include high loan default ...