California officials have warned that for-profit schools may make misleading career claims leaving students with a mountain of debt, but no job.

For years, state leaders have tried to limit for-profit schools, and the state Attorney General's office has an explicit warning to prospective students on its website.

For-profit schools have been accused of fraud, abuse, and predatory practices targeting the poor, veterans, and minorities by offering expensive degrees that often fail to deliver promised skills and jobs.

A CalMatters investigation found that the state is using its network of nearly 180 job centers to refer students to for-profit schools, taxpayer dollars then cover that student's tuition.

In some cases, CalMatters found that taxpayer dollars were going to fo.. that were under investigation and that the state recommended schools that were unlicensed.

The primary benefit of many for-profit job training programs is that they're short, easy to access, and promise graduates that they'll find a job.

For adults who attended a for-profit school using taxpayer subsidies, some of the most popular programs were for medical or nursing assistants.

These medical or nursing assistants earned less than $30,000 in the year after graduation.

According to student outcome data collected by the State's Employment Development Department, this CalMatters investigation comes after the state has invested millions to boost enrollment at community colleges, often with the explicit goal of steering students away from expensive for-profit schools, and toward cheaper public options.

Meanwhile, Governor Gavin Newsom is creating a new agenda for job training programs.

The goal is to train adults for good-paying, long-lasting, and fulfilling careers.

With CalMatters, I'm Adam Echelman.