ProPublica and the Detroit Free Press found that Baker College spent more on marketing than it did on financial aid. Now, the school faces an inquiry by the U.S. Department of Education.

Baker was founded as a for-profit institution in 1911 but became a nonprofit in 1977. In the early 2000s, Baker was Michigan’s largest private college, with campuses spread out across the state.

Baker College once was Michigan’s largest private nonprofit school, built on questionable promises of employment and cost. But a new school year brings a fresh host of financial and reputational ...