Elesha Barnette
+ Follow“Gainful Employment” Rule Threatens Black, Hispanic Matriculation
Every year, millions of African American and Hispanic students enroll in career colleges – for-profit institutions of higher learning like the University of Phoenix or ITT Tech – and each year, represent 39 percent of all graduates from those schools.
For some students, for-profit colleges are their only opportunity to receive higher education. That option may be taken off the table, however, if the Department of Education is successful in reintroducing the ‘gainful employment rule’ into federal financing of college education.
Riding the tailwinds of President Obama’s State of the Union address, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and his colleagues have been going swing-state to swing-state promoting ‘education affordability.’ With ever escalating tuition costs and the United States now ranking 16th globally in college graduates, the DOE is hoping to dramatically alter the current landscape for federally supporting for-profit institutions.
Not so fast says the National Black Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) and a host of other dissenters. According to Harry Alford, NBCC’s president, the “Department of Education’s calculation error confirms our initial concerns that the ‘Gainful Employment’ rule would unfairly harm minority students at proprietary colleges and universities.
“The department has failed time and again,” he said, “to recognize that repayment rates at proprietary schools are based heavily on demographics – and it has now been forced to re-release the ‘Gainful Employment’ rule based on incorrect interpretation of the statistical results.
“Had the Department of Education conducted a Minority Student Impact Assessment – as the National Black Chamber of Commerce and other minority leaders had called for in May of 2011 – we would not be facing this issue.”
NBCC and other opponents of the rule fear that, once enacted, ‘gainful employment’ regulations will seal the fates of millions of minority students who rely on federal funding to attend career schools. Those students would no longer have the financial means to get the very degrees that are essential to being competitive in a modern economy, and lead to greater employment opportunities.
For its part, the DOE believes that gainful employment regulations are necessary because many students attending career schools end up saddled with debt and limited job prospects.
Instead of supporting career colleges, which are home to a substantial minority student population, the government believes federal dollars could be better spent on non-profit public and private institutions.
On the surface that makes sense, but the devil is in the details, or rather lack of details and due diligence.
When the DOE first presented the “gainful employment” rule, NBCC and others adamantly opposed it because there had been no study conducted with respect to the impact the rule would have on low-income and minority students. That the DOE admitted to making errors in its data calculations, NBCC and others’ concerned deepened about the potential unintended consequences of applying this rule.
DOE officials disclosed the error in a December court filing, which is part of the ongoing legal challenge to gainful employment by the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities, the primary for-profit college trade group. That lawsuit appears to have led to the mistake’s discovery.
Career college graduates are 39 percent minority, whereas 17 percent of graduating students from private not-for-profit colleges, and 20 percent of graduating students from public not-for-profit institutions are minority.
With statistics like these, the potential impact on minority students educational prospects become clearer when considering that the gainful employment rule may make it more difficult for students of color to receive a college degree.
Lets face it. Job prospects aren’t particularly bright for most college grads right now, whether they receive their degree at for-profit, non-profit, private or public institutions of higher learning. At a minimum, we owe it to all potential students to leave as many education options viable and available.
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7 Responses to “Gainful Employment” Rule Threatens Black, Hispanic Matriculation
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Pingback: “Gainful Employment” Rule Threatens Black, Hispanic Matriculation - Jack & Jill Politics
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kvb says:
Agree with above. I cannot believe anyone of color would want these schools to stay open unless they, themselves had a financial incentive. Students leave with an outrageous amount of debt and NO job prospects because most employers don't take them seriously. Has the author or National Black Chamber read the Congressional reports on these for profit colleges?
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Magnolia B. says:
Most not-for-profit schools are regionally accredited, meaning that they have successfully satisfied a rigorous inquiry into the credientials of the faculty, the quality of the curriculum, the availability of necessary resources, etc. It normally takes years to win accreditation, and it must be renewed periodically. Virtually everything is documented. There may still be problems with them, but regionally accredited schools have been vetted.
Most for-profit schools, if they have any accreditation, have received it from the agency they set up. This is why their degrees and credits are considered virtually worthless. If they graduate more minorities, it may have something to do with their marketing strategy, which targets minorities.
Finally, we have to ask, what is a college? What kind of learning and growth is worthy of a degree? I couldn't start a dentistry practice with little more than a business license. What gives a group of private investors the right to hang up a shingle that says "college" and expect to be taken seriously as having a legitimate institution of higher learning?
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Catrina says:
Please define the "Gainful Employment” rule. I would have enjoyed the article more if I had not had to leave it to Google the rule.
For-profit schools are a rip off. Our parents managed to get an education at a brick and mortar school and I think we can to. Stop being lazy and making excuses. I just finished an masters at a traditional university with two kids at home under 10.
These for-profit schools are the same as the check cashing places and pay-day loan offices in our neighborhoods. They are not there to help us but to make a profit. We get a sub-standard service at a premium price.
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ivamuzz says:
Please forgive if you can my statement, but there is no such thing as Blacks and Hispanic
We as black people have to learn to stand on our own, it's a must . Hispanic as little as you or i know are
getting there just do from there govenment and our government, they are just no telling you
right now spanish speaking people in south american cental america and the caribbean islands are very political and growning they grow up that way, we on the other hand have know clue about how our own government. True, some of them may be poor and displace, but that is not our concern, these Hispanics as you call them are going to survive with or without us. they are taking away all our civil right that our forefathers lost there lifes for right in front of our face, all the jobs are going to them housing food, though
there own or Hispanic political organization that is run by our government and there's
IF YOU HAVE NOT DONE THIS BEFORE PUT YOUR EYES and EARS TO WORK
LEARN WHO IS AROUND YOU. AND STAND
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these schools are in large part scams. that blacks are getting scammed at a higher rate than whites should be alarming but the black chamber of commerce rushing to the defense of for-profit schools is shameful.