Responding to what it called a “deeply troubling” government report that highlighted extensive examples of aggressive recruiting by for-profit colleges, the Career College Association has announced that it will initiate a series of steps to rein in abusive practices by its member colleges. The program will include a tougher code of compliance and the development of an industrywide “mystery shopper” program to help police colleges’ recruiting and financial-advising practices. Separately, the nation’s largest private college, the University of Phoenix, announced that it had begun an internal investigation into conduct cited in the report and noted that a training slide for university recruiters that was shown at a Senate hearing on Wednesday was from 2003 and “does not reflect the values of the current leadership team who do not condone the attitude represented by this particular slide.”
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5 Responses to Career College Association Pledges to Toughen Recruiting Standards
cwinton - August 5, 2010 at 5:54 pm
Since the University of Phoenix is admitting to past recruiting misdeeds, shouldn’t they seek out those students their recruiters apparently flim-flammed to see if a refund of tuition is warranted? OK, OK, I obviously don’t live on this planet.
charlesgross - August 5, 2010 at 7:43 pm
While this sounds like a “positive” response when has someone from a regulatory body sat-in on a training session at CCA or the University of Phoenix for Admissions or Financaial Aid personnel. The techniques shown on the videos are taught, managed-for or the result of neglect. Please watch “take-away” or “negative” selling training at the workshops…or watch the old movie Tin Men…
realtyannie - August 6, 2010 at 4:24 am
cwinton, hahahahaha. Good one! Wow, we should all be so impressed that career colleges will make a token effort to clean up their slimy practices, now that they have no choice. And while their at it, how can they turn the free publicity into a public relations dream? “Integrity. Quality. Respect. . . Come see the NEW University of Low Standards.”
realtyannie - August 6, 2010 at 4:26 am
Oops. they’re, not their. No way to edit my low-quality post?
careerwise - August 6, 2010 at 2:35 pm
I am really getting feed up by all the misconceptions of Career Colleges, sure there are a few bad seeds out there, but I graduated from a Career College, received an excellent education from it, became employed in the field and later came back to the institution that trained me and stayed. Our institution has highly qualified staff; staff who are here to teach because they care, not because of ten year! We also focus on degrees that lead to jobs, such as Medical Assisting, Dental Assisting, etc. Can a public institution with programs such as a degree in Women’s Studies lead to gainful employment? I seriously doubt it. The officials who have placed us under a microscope should also look at the public institutions too because neither one is perfect, but both have a place. Make the playing field fair, what are the graduation rates of public institutions? What are their retention and placement rates? If anyone actually took the time to look at the stats, we do a much better job in all three areas, but the officials leading this charge, do not want you to know that. Furthermore, the government needs to take a long, hard look at the amount of money students can borrow beyond what is required for tuition at any institution. Every single day, I see students who come to school simply for the “excess funds” with absolutely no desire to actually learn something and many of those same students are savvy (streetwise) to know they will get even more from a state run institution. Both types of institutions have their hands tied in preventing students from borrowing more than is needed even when we know they are abusing the system. Yet, I see no oversight committee spearheading any look in this “huge” abuse. As I said in the beginning, both types of institutions have their place, but private institutions have taken a beating in the press, the government and on You Tube. However, the people I saw berating a private institution on You Tube, were just plain laughable and seriously showed their lack of intelligence, anyone who took that group with a grain of salt really needs their heads examined, much as this whole politically, grandstanding, fiasco has become.