New federal regulations target for-profit colleges

[Tx4obama]

Source: The Associated Press

The U.S. Department of Education on Thursday will release finalized regulations targeting for-profit colleges that give the government a stronger hand overseeing the fast-growing sector - including new rules reining in how recruiters are paid and a controversial attempt to define credit hours.

Still to come early next year is the most fought-over proposal: a rule that would cut off federal aid to college vocational programs with high student-debt levels and poor loan repayment rates.

The department put off finalizing those "gainful employment" regulations until early next year, although Thursday's package of rules includes one scaled-down gainful employment provision that has eased industry worries.

A full review will not be possible until the final regulations are published online Thursday and in print Friday in the Federal Register. But department officials are portraying themselves as good listeners, saying they made 82 changes in response to comments and criticisms of 13 new "program integrity" rules that will go into effect in July 2011.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_FOR_PROFIT_COLLEGES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2010-10-28-00-15-25

[somone]

1. For-profit colleges and for-profit hospitals should be outlawed

as far as I'm concerned.

[SnakeEyes]

4. Why colleges?

There are enough non-profits out there too.

[Moonbat2]

5. Absolutely

We must not allow unregulated thought.

[No Elephants]

9. Wow. The size of that strawman is impressive!

[No Elephants]

8. Self delete

[ProgressiveProfessor]

2. Rules should apply to all colleges and universities

For example the Univ of MD University College is in many ways like Univ of Phoenix and should be under the same rules.

[Book Lover]

3. Totally agreed

How many certificate and extension programs are run exactly like U Phoenix?

[24601]

6. Yes - there should be only one set of rules and one standard

cirriculum for everyone everywhere - and all should be owned by the workers comrade! The only way to stop anything operating for a profit is to ruthlessly stomp it at the federal level. Only then will our victory be complete. :sarcasm:

[No Elephants]

10. And here I thought Moonbat 2's strawman was huge.

[AndrewP]

12. LOL

There obviously should be some important regulation of for profit colleges, but those that insinuate that ALL of them are corrupt or evil are full of shit.

I have one degree at a "traditional" University and another at an "evil for-profit" University, and I learned just as much in the latter as the former. Plus the tuition was about 1/3.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

15. I am not against for profit colleges in the least

Its just that many so called not for profits are doing the exact same thing and should be under the same rules. Level playing field where the degrees people get from either of them have reasonable worth and recognition.

[alcibiades_mystery]

13. What are the debt repayment ratios?

The question is whether there's a difference in kind.

Just as a hypothetical, if traditional colleges and universities had a 15% federal student loan default, and the for-profits had a 65% federal loan default, wouldn't that suggest a difference in kind that has to be addressed as such?

For some of these for-profits, the only "business" model is get customers in, hit up the federal government for loan money, and get customers out. The "students" are merely a vehicle for withdrawing money from the treasury. If they were turning out a good product (i.e., employable, well-trained students), it would be another matter. The default rates suggest that not even that is happening, so the whole charade of being a "student" in some of these places is just that: a charade.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

7. There is a major distinction to be made

While there are programs at public universities that are completely worthless and perfectly reputable for-profit schools, there is a class of for-profit school that exists only to fleece the federal student loan program and offers programs of absolutely zero value that leave students with an inextricable debt, no better prospects and laughs all the way to wallstreet.

There are major problems with higher education such as for-profit schools that have simply bought accreditation to real universities that have basically become diploma mills through sham programs like "Executive MBA's" - but this is an issue all on its own and should really be more of a criminal matter than a legislative one. It is a felony for businesses to defraud the United States Small Business Administration. Why aren't there felony prosecutions for these sham schools that exist only to defraud Student Aid? It is even more repulsive because their direct victims are saddled with mortgage sized debts no matter what.

[Historic NY]

11. We all see the TEE-VEE commercials.....

they sell something that its not, while implying its a college degree.

[greiner3]

14. Does this regulation include those institutions;

That offer Th.D degrees? I mean the ones that you pay a small fee to and you are some kind of clergy. I saw one that for $200 you could perform marriages. Not bad but I'm still an atheist. I'm waiting for a degree in that so I can perform the same ceremonies without the religious claptrap.