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Standard-Examiner
By: sskordos

 

(UNEDITED)We have all heard that President Obama’s Department of Education is dedicated to dramatic expansion of postsecondary education access and to increased health care worker training. But few are aware that Department officials are proposing an ill-conceived regulatory change that hurts nontraditional students, working adults, and lower income students who gravitate to career training programs. It’s called the "gainful employment rule."

 

The gainful employment rule would link median student borrowing levels to average starting salaries and put an end to programs that fail a ratio test. However, the proposal impacts students attending career colleges and ignores traditional school graduates. The rationale is that starting salaries for graduates of career colleges are too low to justify the federal aid dollars received by students. The proposal fails to recognize that starting salaries for graduates of liberal arts programs at traditional colleges are some of the lowest in the nation. Why should the federal government punish students for their career choice?

 

The proposal adversely impacts students who are often the first generation to attend college, many of whom are single parents and are more likely to be in a lower socio-economic group. This student group is focused on an education that leads to workplace preparation. These are the students our country needs to attract to postsecondary education if we are going to reach the President’s goal of regaining our number one higher education status in the world by 2020.

 

Expanded postsecondary education is key to US global competitiveness. Career colleges and universities, the fastest growing sector of higher education, are working every day to help in that effort. The Department of Education’s proposed gainful employment rule, however, will block, not advance, progress in preparing the country’s future workforce.

 

Julie Blake
Vice-president
Dan Inman
Chief operating officer
Eagle Gate College Group
Salt Lake City

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