The Biden administration is disadvantaging working, minority and underprivileged students by "weaponizing" the federal student aid process to target for-profit trade schools, according to a conservative watchdog group.

The American Accountability Foundation (AAF) released an explosive new report using research and documents obtained by public records requests to argue the Education Department is working with a network of left-wing figures and Democratic state attorneys general to pursue a "witch hunt" against career colleges — also known as trade, vocational, or proprietary schools.

"Actions of the Biden Department of Education have weaponized the department and the student aid process for political purposes," the report states. "The administration's biased focus on forcing students to choose state-run or traditional private colleges and universities, even when those may not be the best fit, has driven them to build a biased Federal Student Aid office that appears to exist nearly exclusively to prosecute its director's vendetta against career colleges. Specifically, the administration has undertaken several steps that are putting working class students at a disadvantage by unfairly targeting career colleges."

Much of the AAF's report focuses on Richard Cordray, the Education Department's chief operating officer of federal student aid. He previously served as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and attorney general of Ohio. According to the AAF, Cordray is a leading force behind the Biden administration's alleged targeting of career colleges.