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Washington, DC–The Career College Association (CCA) today said the Department of Education’s metrics-based gainful employment proposal, establishing a ratio between student debt and anticipated graduate earnings, is unwise, unnecessary, unproven and is likely to harm students, employers, institutions and taxpayers. CCA said the move is also unlawful since the Department of Education lacks the statutory authority to impose such a new measure.
The government’s approach would impose sanctions on programs wherein student debt to earnings ratios exceed certain percentages. CCA President Harris N. Miller said additional analysis would be required to understand the full ramifications of the ED gainful employment proposal, but he went on to express CCA’s disagreement with a metrics-based approach:
“Adjusting the numbers in the original gainful employment formulation is not the issue. Amounts borrowed today do not indicate what you will be able to repay in five years, ten years or over a working lifetime. Our analysis, based on the real experience of over 600,000 borrowers, indicates that students in more expensive programs are actually more likely to repay their student loans. An approach based on a debt to earnings ratio is, therefore, by definition counterproductive.”
An earlier CCA commissioned study found the gainful employment ratio could eliminate programs serving 300,000 students, disproportionately harming female and minority students. With community college budgets shrinking, eliminating career college programs could mean eliminating postsecondary access for these non-traditional students. “The President’s 2020 goal for educating Americans means keeping all avenues to education open,” Miller said. “Students need more information, not fewer choices.”
Rather than use an imprecise and ineffective debt to earnings ratio, CCA earlier put forward a proposal that would add to the disclosures already required in the Higher Education Opportunity Act. The approach also included independent employer affirmation and licensure/certification criteria. The Department of Education included increased disclosures in its proposed rule concerning gainful employment, released on June 18.
About CCA: The Career College Association (CCA) is a voluntary membership organization of accredited, private postsecondary schools, institutes, colleges and universities that provide career-specific educational programs. CCA has more than 1,800 members that educate and support over one million students each year for employment in over 200 occupational fields. CCA member institutions provide the full range of higher education programs: masters and doctoral degree programs, two- and four-year associate and baccalaureate degree programs, and short-term certificate and diploma programs. Visit CCA at www.career.org or follow us on Twitter: ccanow.
Correction: The original version of this release (mailed on June 22) indicated that the Department of Education issued its Program Integrity NPRM, including gainful employment disclosures, on June 15. The correct date was June 18, 2010. CCA regrets the error.
