The Obama administration through its Secretary of Education
Arne Duncan and a legislative ally in Sen. Tom Harkin (Democrat from Iowa who
has now retired), created numerous rules and regulations that significantly
impacted for-profit schools. While good
intentions were made to address the abuses of some schools, the approach place
all schools into the same category. This
resulted in multiple school closures which significantly impacted students,
employers, and contributed to limiting student access to education.
While Pres. Trump and his new Secretary of Education Betsy
DeVos have yet to clearly articulate plans for this sector, it does seem
probable that there will be a more favorable regulatory environment for
for-profit schools. Gainful employment rules which linked financial performance
and placement of graduates to schools’ ability to access federal funds has resulted
in a significant number of closures.
This means the Federal government who one would assume should do no harm
to students by their actions left thousands with no degrees and substantial
debt. While some may view this approach
as appropriate to weed out” bad apples” it had a negative effect by placing all
schools into the same basket. Clearly regulations that address abusers of the
system need to be in place and hopefully the new administration will seek a middle
of the road approach to monitoring such.
For more information regarding these issues please read the New York
Times article by Patricia Cohen at the following link: For Profit Schools, an Obama Target, See New Day Under Trump (Retrieved from the Internet on February 22,
2017).
2 comments:
Hello Dr. Bob. Thank you for bringing up this important issue. In my opinion while federal government should take an active role in regulating private education I strongly believe that it is individual responsibility to choose a career path wisely. I believe it is up to the individuals to choose a tangible profession and an affordable education. Community colleges do provide an affordable alternative. These colleges may have a more cumbersome admission process, and are not able to provide same measure of individual approach as private institutions. However, it is important for families and parents of young people starting their secondary education to orient young people to the affordable education and realistic expectations in terms of employment prospect.
Yelena Kan, RN
Thanks for sharing your thoughtful comments....
Dr. Bob
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