Grand Canyon U. Program Failed ‘Gainful Employment’ Test, Education Dept. Says

This is the kind of case that really exposes the issues in the gainful employment requirement. That is to say, a degree in interdisciplinary studies certainly does not prepare a student for employment  in the same way as a degree in automotive engineering technology. The Interdisciplinary Studies degree tends to serve one of two purposes. It is a flexible degree that allows student who have taken lots of courses at various institutions efficiently to complete a bachelors degree that will make optimal use of courses already taken. Thus the student will have a bachelor’s degree, which should quaify the student for any position that requires “a bachelors degree,” without any area specified. Interdisciplinary Studies degrees also work for students who want to craft a customized curriculum in order to pursue some particular interest of their own that is not addressed by an existing curriculum.  It would seem, in this case, that the student, rather then the college, would be responsible for success or failure in gaining employment. 

Then, of course, there is the old problem of proximate relationship between major and work. “You can’t get a job in business unless you major in business” is a patently false statement. So is “You can get a job in business if you major in business.” Sure, if you want to be a nurse, you have to major in nursing, because the nursing profession has set it up that way. But the connection between majors and jobs, except in a handful of cases, is tenuous at best. The gainful employment requirement should only apply, it seems to me, where there is something approaching a mandatory connection between the major and specific jobs. If I succeed in completing college X’s program in Air Traffic Control, there should be jobs in ATC and I should be qualified for them.

Certificate programs at any institution and most degree programs at proprietary institutions are eligible for federal student aid only if they prepare students for “gainful employment in a recognized occupation”.  Degree programs at public and private non-profit institutions are not required to prepare students for anything as a condition of federal student aid eligibility.

For the government to ignore the fact that most students at non-profit universities are there to prepare themselves for gainful employment (something of which they are already aware)  demonstrates the hypocrisy and double standard of the current “gainful employment” regulations. Let all interdisciplinary studies programs at all universities be evaluated by the same standard used to condemn Grand Canyon. Of course, this level of consistency will never be had from our dysfunctional Dept. of Education.

In this case, the failure was actually under the old rules.  All degree programs at propietary must lead to outcomes with specified job codes under both the old and new regulations.  Grand Canyon also in trouble for apparently failing to adequately track attendance or disclose their compensation plans for recruiters. 

This is a completely bald-faced attempt by the current administration to persecute “evil” for-profits to the benefit of state-run schools.  Two problems with this though:
1) For-profits do a much better job of retaining and graduating minority and low-SES students than public schools because they have a profit motivation to do so.  Community colleges couldn’t care less if a minority drops out of their programs. The regionally accredited for-profits are inspected by their accrediting body just like the state runs schools.
2) State schools lack the physcial capacity to serve all of the students who really need a degree to progress.

As a previsou poster remarked, the interdisciplinary degree is like a general degree-completion program.  We know from studies that many students do not enter the field for which they have a degree.The Bachelors becomes a tie-breaker against others.

It’s all about driving away competition for state-run schools for this administration.  

I wonder when this statist administration will look at this: http://biggovernment.com/capitolconfidential/2011/08/28/floridaag-overlooking-political-corruption-fraud-at-state-university-system/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BigGovernment+%28Big+Government%29.
2.

Incorrect.  That school is not an attendacne taking school, and they already settled the “compensation plans for recruiters” issue.  They were doing the same thing as every other school by incentivizing enrollment.  They actually stopped that practice back in 2008 and settled in 2010 or 2011.

I went to your first link and learned this about the student side of the cost for this 2-year Virginia program:

“Based on current academic tuition rates, the estimated cost of the degree is $19,800 in state / $62,580 out of state. Additional fees may apply, including course materials. Tuition rates are adjusted annually.”

Of course, this public school doesn’t have to worry about such mundane things as whether or not graduates get jobs or whether they graduate.

Arizona State charges around $36,000 for a short masters in legal studies degree which they take pains to point out does not qualify you for a job in law and cannot be applied toward JD admissions or credit. No worries there.

WOW!! From calculating Grand Canyon’s cost, the same degree would cost $54,000 ($8,000 less than our public university in Virginia).  Now, how much do the good people of Virginia spend on subsidizing each student?  How much tax does UofV pay back (probably no state tax at all)?  You know that the for-profits are paying both fed and state taxes back to us.

Public schools are a losing deal for us taxpayers.  We should have higher-ed vouchers.

@nkaze…
 
Oh really, so who takes attendance in those 400-person auditoriums that state-run schools are known for?
Northern Arizona University admitted they never did until they used stimulus money to install RFID readers.   http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/view/7628  Students protested the new attendance taking policy.

Have you worked in public higher education?

My PhD in interdisciplinary studies prepared me to teach in a doctoral business program, publish 3 books, as well as chapters and etc.

I certainly oppose shady recruiting etc. but if college MUST translate to gainful employment there will be lots of great liberal studies and humanities programs lost. Plus, many of those seemingly vague programs are great foundations for other more focused professional or advanced academic degrees.