PDA

View Full Version : Budget Deal Allows Regulations To Move Forward On For-Profit Colleges




tangent4ronpaul
04-10-2011, 08:06 AM
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/09/budget-deal-for-profit-colleges_n_847047.html

Much of Friday's last-minute budget gridlock centered on policy disputes over funding for Planned Parenthood and environmental regulations.

But another largely unnoticed provision at play in last week's negotiations involved rules that would regulate billions of dollars of federal student loan and grant money allotted to college programs with a track record of poor student outcomes. A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) confirmed on Saturday that the final deal will not include a measure that would have prevented the Obama administration from cracking down on certain schools.

Last week, a bipartisan group of House members pushed for a rider in the spending bill that would block the Department of Education from implementing rules that would punish certain for-profit college and community college programs for saddling students with debts they cannot repay.

Designed as a consumer protection measure, the Department of Education's proposed "gainful employment" rules would limit federal student aid for programs with a track record of leaving students with high debt burdens. The for-profit college industry, which relies on such funds for the vast majority of its revenues, has viciously fought the regulations over the past year.

(but state colleges with majors in philosophy and waitressing - er, I mean acting, are just dandy!)

specsaregood
04-10-2011, 08:09 AM
I'm torn on this. I don't support the federal government giving out money which increases prices.
However, this is clearly an attack on private education and particularly teaching people useful trades.
Hopefully the market can work to remedy the situation.

angelatc
04-10-2011, 08:10 AM
The Dems have had the private educators in their cross hairs for a while now. I'm torn about this. I don't like seeing the federal funds used for student loans anyway. If the socialists eventually keep all the money for government, or at least government friendly, schools, will a secondary system arise - one that's truly private? (Of course, they'll have to quash it because it would be undoubtedly superior.)

ANd this is going to put the trade schools out of business. They demand a myriad of certifications for mundane tasks like cutting hair, then work to abolish the places who are licensed to award the certifications? Unreal.

acptulsa
04-10-2011, 08:18 AM
Ah, but it's the city government that requires the licenses and the federal government that loans students money. So, they don't have to be on the same page. And, obviously, it isn't Washington's problem.

angelatc
04-10-2011, 08:22 AM
Good point. So, the federal government can destroy the local licensing requirements by refusing to fund the programs, then come up with a set of federal regulations, and happily fund those programs. Now it makes sense.

I HATE John Boehner. Say what you want about Pelosi, but that bitch never let a single Republican item into her legislation.

acptulsa
04-10-2011, 08:25 AM
You don't suppose they're actually smart enough to be purposely trying to discourage schools from placing students in independent contractor positions (like rented cosmetology booths in salons)?

specsaregood
04-10-2011, 08:34 AM
You don't suppose they're actually smart enough to be purposely trying to discourage schools from placing students in independent contractor positions (like rented cosmetology booths in salons)?

I think it was rather that the DOE was just a little bit worried that there were people out there actually learning something, useful.

acptulsa
04-10-2011, 08:39 AM
I think it was rather that the DOE was just a little bit worried that there were people out there actually learning something, useful.

The Department of Energy? Oh, you mean the ED. Yes, you're probably right. *sigh*


"Never was a country in the throes of more capital letters than the old U.S.A., but we still haven't sent out the S.O.S."--Will Rogers

cindy25
04-10-2011, 09:02 AM
if the schools are legitimate they should be able to survive; there is a private college-Hillsboro-that has always refused to participate in the student loan scam.