“Those signals came at a joint hearing involving two House subcommittees — the postsecondary education panel of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, and the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Oversight and Government Spending. […] The gainful employment rules would eliminate federal student-aid funding for for-profit postsecondary programs (as well as vocational certificate programs at nonprofit institutions) whose graduates don’t achieve certain levels of employment, income or loan repayment.” -Inside Higher Ed, July 11, 2011
I am disappointed that common ground is not found during these issues. Graduate employability is such a complicated. There is a lot that factors in to someone’s success in finding “gainful employment” after graduation. For-profit and vocational institutions tend to serve a “non-traditional” population, which could mean anything from working adults to individuals with disabilities (either physical or learning) to single parents (and so on and so forth). These students typically do not have the same flexibility to move to a different part of the country to attain better work or to dedicate themselves full-time to a job search. On the other hand, this population, needs adequate training of how to look for work, an area where I feel all providers must be responsible. It is the student’s responsibility whether they take advantage of the institution’s services, but it is an institution’s responsibility to provide up-to-date, relevant and accessible information to their students about how to translate the learning or training experiences of the classroom, whether it was in-person or virtual, to a job search and application phase.
It is understandable that harsh gainful employment rules might not be fully understanding the student population these institutions serve, but with rules that are too relaxed, these providers are not being held responsible for their enrollment and graduate job readiness preparation practices. I do think the rules that apply to one sector should apply to all postsecondary institutions, both non-profit and for-profit. If graduates from a particular institution are in loan default in significantly high numbers or are unemployed or underemployed, regardless if the institution is for-profit or non-profit, it is a problem that needs to be looked into and addressed.
When will politics, with its sound bites and opposition for the sake of opposition, be put aside to really address the issue at hand?
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