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For-Profit Colleges in US May Face Tests on Federal Student Aid

August 17th, 2010 at 07:56am Under Education report

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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

President Obama wants the United States to have the world’s highest rate of college graduates. But his administration also wants stronger rules for colleges that operate for profit.

Career colleges receive billions of dollars from taxpayers through student loans. The Education Department says some of that goes to waste and leaves students in debt for educations of little or no value.

To receive federal aid, career colleges must prepare students for what the law calls “gainful employment” in a recognized occupation. Two tests are proposed to see if they do.

One would measure the relationship between debt loads and how much students earn after they complete a program. The other would measure the rate at which all students repay their loans, whether they complete the program or not.

Programs that fail these tests could be restricted or blocked from federal student aid.

The Education Department says for-profit colleges and training programs are important. In two thousand eight they had close to two million students — nearly three times more than in two thousand.

Last year, the five largest received more than three-fourths of their money from federal student aid. And that amount did not include other forms of government aid.

Yet officials say for-profit colleges may be less supervised than other schools. They also point to reports of highly aggressive marketing.

For every one hundred graduates of for-profit colleges, eighteen fail to repay their federal student loans. That compares to five graduates of public colleges and universities.

The department is now collecting public comments on a number of negotiated rules. Some would require career colleges to release their graduation and job placement rates. The goal is to publish a final rule by November.

The Career College Association called the debt-to-earnings proposal unwise, unnecessary, unproven — and unlawful. The group says it has found that students in higher priced programs are more likely, not less likely, to repay their students loans.

It says the move could eliminate programs serving three hundred thousand students. Female and minority students would face the most harm, it says, as they are more likely to attend career colleges.

The association also points to shrinking budgets for community colleges. Its president, Harris Miller, says “Students need more information, not fewer choices.”

And that’s the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Avi Arditti. I’m Steve Ember.

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Facing America’s High Dropout Rates

March 2nd, 2010 at 09:18am Under Education report

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

Less than sixty percent of students now entering four-year American colleges are likely to graduate. The completion rate is lower than for almost any other wealthy country, and worst for poor and minority students.

A new book about America’s public universities explores the complex causes of the high dropout rate. The book is called “Crossing the Finish Line.”

President Obama wants the United States to again have the world’s highest percentage of college graduates by two thousand twenty. But to finish college, children first have to reach the starting line by getting there.

President Obama shakes hands with students after speaking at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia

On Tuesday the president gave a nationally broadcast speech to students about the importance of staying in school. He spoke on the first day of classes at a high school in Virginia. He talked about personal responsibility, and used himself as an example of someone who overcame difficulties.

BARACK OBAMA: “My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn’t always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn’t fit in.”

But he told students that problems in their own lives should not stop them from learning.

BARACK OBAMA: “That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying.”

This was not the first presidential speech to students. Ronald Reagan spoke from the White House in nineteen eighty-eight. And George H.W. Bush spoke from a school in Washington in nineteen ninety-one.

But many conservatives criticized plans for the speech. Some called it “socialized education” or federal interference in local schools. Others feared it would be too political. Some schools decided not to show the speech. But the White House released the text on Monday, and that calmed a lot of critics.

On Sunday, on the CBS program “Face the Nation,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said thirty percent of students do not graduate from high school. He called the dropout rate “staggering.” It represents more than a million students every year who entered ninth grade but did not complete twelfth grade.

The education secretary called the objections to the president’s speech “silly.” But he also said one of the activities suggested for students “wasn’t worded quite correctly.” It related to the goal of increasing college graduation rates. It suggested that students “Write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president.” But after conservatives objected, the activity was changed to writing about personal goals.

And that’s the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. I’m Steve Ember.

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