Hold For-profit Colleges Accountable

As so many of you know, and as a Senate investigation recently confirmed, many for-profit colleges are roping in students with deceptive marketing and aggressive sales tactics, providing substandard training, and leaving students deep in debt they can’t pay back. Efforts are underway to try and change that.

The Department of Education recently proposed a rule that would require for-profit schools to prove students are getting jobs that make it possible for them to pay off their loans.  The proposed “gainful employment” rule is a good start, but many student advocates don’t think it goes far enough. Not surprisingly, the for-profit college lobbyists are trying to weaken the rules.

Here’s where you come in.  You can go to this website to make sure your voice is heard.  The site, operated by a non-profit student advocacy organization called The Institute for College Access and Success, has a form that makes it easy for you to send in your comments.  Public comments are being accepted until September 9th, so time is running short.  Click here if you’d like to send in your comment.

You can also submit your comments at www.regulations.gov.

Tags: deceptive marketing, Department of education, dept of ed, for profit colleges, gainful employment, proposed rules, student debt, TICAS

Senator Harkin Takes on For-Profit College Issue

We thought you’d like to hear about someone who is trying to help students facing problems at for-profit colleges.

Senator Tom Harkin

Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa is becoming a champion for students who’ve voiced concerns about their experiences at for-profit colleges.  The Senator wrote an editorial for the LA Times cautioning that the scenario students are facing is painfully similar to the recent mortgage meltdown.  Harkin is Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee and launched the first in a series of hearings last month to investigate the for-profit college industry.   In his editorial, Senator Harkin quotes one of the witnesses who testified, Wall Street money manager Steve Eisman, who predicted the sub-prime mortgage collapse:

Wall Street money manager Steven Eisman told the committee that many for-profit colleges are “marketing machines masquerading as universities.” Their rapid growth is driven by easy access to federal student loans, guaranteed by the government. “The government, the students and the taxpayer bear all the risk,” Eisman testified, “and the for-profit industry reaps all the rewards.”

Senator Harkin goes on to point out just how great those rewards are proving to be for executives at for-profit schools:

The president of the largest for-profit college is paid nearly 14 times the compensation of the president of Harvard University.

Meanwhile, he writes students are often left in an even worse financial position with little recourse:

Subprime borrowers were able to walk away from their homes and, therefore, their debt. But it is a different story for millions of students who take out loans to attend for-profit colleges. Under the law, people cannot discharge student debt in bankruptcy; so if they can’t pay it off, it will continue to accrue compounded interest indefinitely.

Click here to read more from Senator Harkin’s editorial.

Be sure to continue speaking out and sharing your story.  People are beginning to listen.

Tags: editorial, for profit colleges, Harkin, investigation, Iowa, LA Times, Senate Hearing, Senator, Tom

Education Leaders Hear about Student Issues

Robert Shireman, Nicole Mayer, Dr. Julianne Malveaux

Hi everyone,

Tags: education conference, for profit colleges, Nicole Mayer, rainbow push coalition, robert shireman, student debt, student loans