The association representing for-profit colleges sued the U.S. Department of Education on Friday, alleging that three new rules—one designed to prevent misrepresentation in recruiting, another to end the use of bonus payments tied to enrollments, and a third to allow states greater oversight over distance education—are so “vague and poorly written” that they will force colleges to waste time and money defending themselves against frivolous lawsuits. Echoing complaints it has been voicing for months, the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities said in a news release that its 1,500 member colleges believe in fair oversight but filed the federal lawsuit to block regulations that “as written are not fair, lawful, or workable.”
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It is the for-profits that typically provide the flexibility for non-traditional working students to go to college. Trying to close the door on for-profits may limit those students option, and traditional bricks and mortar 8am-5pm colleges aren’t likely to fill the bill.
And while the focus in on for-profits, so too should they be an accountability focus on all colleges.
Sounds like a frivolous lawsuit to me, speaking of frivolous! And I’ll venture “tlnorth” has a vested interest in the outcome by virtue of employment or otherwise as part of the full court press by the for-profit sector to counter recently disclosed abuses where they, in fact, exist.
WONDERFUL! Let them sue, just be sure the court room is full of Radio and TV media types when the Government puts forth their case and gives a lenghty litany of the rip-offs perpetrated against suudents who enrolled in these commercial enterprises. With the media doing what they love to do, the fraudulant practices of the for-profits will be known to the entire world.
The problem here is that these DOE “rules” are poorly designed, and not based on any empirical data, therefore, they will end up hurting the very students that they seek to “protect.” This is no different than the “50 percent rule” that was designed to curtial diploma mills, but instead allowed them to flourish by denying financial aid to distance learning students at legitimate schools. Fortunately, that rule was repealed. Requiring only one type of school to go through a formal state approval process if it enrolls one online student in that state (while not requiring the other schools to do so) is both unfair and illegal. Speaking of “vested interests,” what about Steve Eiseman, the short seller who was the government’s chief witness against the for-profits? He is making a fortune betting against the for-profit industry. How about the GAO’s admission that several of the “abuses” documented in their report never actually happened? Those institutions (for-profit and non-profit) that engage in fraudulent and deceptive practices should be held accountable and deserve the punishments that they receive. However, to assume that all 3,000+ for-profit colleges engage in such practices (while none of the 3,600 non-profits do not) is, to say the least, naive. When a non-profit college loses its accreditation, no one suggests that the other non-profits should also lose theirs. Oh, to have consistency!
We at Murray’s Discount University (formerly Mabel Jean’s School of Long-Haul Trucking and Regulatory Avoidance Techniques) applaud APSC’s lawsuit. MDU itself has often used the “vague and poorly written” gambit to fight off state laws attempting to impose unecessary regulations on us concerning such trivial matters as accreditation and unchecked faculty c.v.’s, and, while hardly ever successful, it did give unpaid interns from our affiliated Schystere School of Law something to do during their lucrative (for MDU, that is) “independent study” courses.
And even if the DOE regulations were precise and well-written, what’s wrong with a litte misrepresentation in recruiting? It shows how creative private-sector colleges can be and, after all, isn’t caveat emptor what’s made America great? As to bonuses for enrollments–rewards for initiative and enterprise is another cornerstone of this great nation. MDU, for one, refuses to be shackled to some old, outmoded model of admissions officials who get paid their salaries regardless of how many ususpecting students they can rope into taking out student loans in order to attend cheesy classes leading to veritably worthless degrees.
And what’s with this plan “to allow states greater oversight over distance education”? We at MDU have been moving heaven (asbestos panels in the drop ceilings of some of our mini-mall campuses) and earth (paving over some of the dirt parking lots at our Rainforest Destruction training sites) to fend off the Feds, and what do they go and do? Sic the STATES on us, that’s what! Talk about can’t win for losing!
But as always, we at MDU prefer to look on the bright side. If APSC’s lawsuit fails and these regulations force upon us ethical practices that crimp profitability below what our shareholders demand, we can always resort to that great for-profit standy unavailable to those hidebound not-for-profits: the going-out-of-business sale. So watch for it–Murray’s Discount University’s Giant Lost-Our-Lease Degree Blowout, with Doctorates in Educational Policy Leadership Management Studies at up to 70 percent off! (On-site financing available.)