| [July 21, 2011] |
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Higher Education Truths
WASHINGTON --(Business Wire)--
Those opposing for-profit institutions of higher education have based
their arguments on two fundamentally unsound and misleading
justifications:
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That for-profit institutions account for 10 percent of students,
receive 23 percent of federal student loans and grants and account for
44 percent of defaults and;
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That the GAO found "15 out of 15" schools it visited to be engaged in
deceptive recruiting practices.
For-profit institutions enroll
20 percent of full-time, first-time
degree/certificate-seeking students, represent 23
percent of Title IV draw and a proportional
amount of defaults (24 percent).
Opponents of for-profit institutions contend that students at for-profit
institutions represent 44 percent of loan defaults. But according to
data released by the U.S. Department of Education in connection with its
gainful employment regulation, students from for-profit institutions
represent approximately the same percentae of the total loan default
dollars as they do of total Title IV dollars drawn. Students
benefiting from Title IV and attending for-profit institutions are often
non-traditional, minority students with little family financial support.
The often misleading citation of the default metrics is similar to
the repeated use of the GAO's biased and erroneous report on for-profit
institutions.
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On November 30, 2010, the GAO issued a significantly revised version
of the report. The issuance of a revised GAO report is extremely rare.
Out of over 1,000 reports issued in the past year, only 16 were later
revised.
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The GAO's own
internal investigation found significant flaws in the creation of the
report - so much so that the agency demoted the senior official
responsible for the creation of the report and the unit tasked with
its development.
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On May 17, 2011, an internal
GAO memo was released which cited further evidence that the GAO
not only mishandled its August 2010 report critical of career
colleges, but the agency knowingly and deliberately bowed to political
pressure from Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP)
Committee staff members. The end result was an inaccurate and biased
report. Also included was the admission from the GAO that "because a
summary of X of 15 schools was requested, we then went back and
stretched whatever we could find to come up with a number for the
testimony. This was done in haste and is where most of our corrections
come from."
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On July 13, 2011, the House
Appropriations Committee found that the GAO's report included
"significant mistakes and misstatements in its analysis of the
for-profit college sector."
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16 out of 28 "scenarios" were revised by the GAO - in
all cases, the original examples were shaded against career colleges.
The Coalition for Educational Success
The Coalition for Educational Success includes many of the nation's
leading career colleges, serving more than 350,000 students at 478
campuses in 41 states. Career colleges provide training for students in
17 of the 20 fastest growing fields. The Coalition advocates for
policies that support wider access to higher education, particularly for
non-traditional students including full-time workers, workforce
returners, working parents, minorities and veterans.
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