New rule will cut federal money to college programs that leave grads with high debt, low pay

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

New rule will cut federal money to college programs that leave grads with high debt, low pay

BY COLLIN BINKLEY
Updated 6:10 PM EDT, September 27, 2023

WASHINGTON (AP) — College programs that consistently leave graduates with low pay or unaffordable loans will lose access to federal money under a new rule being finalized by the Biden administration. The policy applies mostly to for-profit colleges, along with certificate programs at traditional universities.

The Education Department says it’s a step toward accountability for America’s higher education system. The rule, known as gainful employment, was proposed in May and revives an Obama-era policy dismantled by the Trump administration.

The department announced Wednesday that the final rule will be published Oct. 10.

“Higher education is supposed to be an invaluable investment in your future. There is nothing valuable about being ripped off or sold on a worthless degree,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said at a press briefing.

An association of for-profit colleges denounced the policy as an unfair attack, saying any policy should be applied evenly across all types of schools. The rule applies to all for-profit college programs, but not to bachelor’s degrees and most graduate programs at traditional colleges.

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/college-for-profit-student-debt-tuition-b4db9895af1ce6ac6737aa2dad015551

[onecaliberal]

1. That's pretty much everywhere.

[brush]

2. It was a sensible Obama-era initiative to aid students that was discontinued during the trump...

discontinued. It's very telling IMO of what the trump admin was all about. I know whereof I speak as I very briefly in the early '00s served as an adjunct prof at a for-profit college after a 35-year career in publication design/journalism. I soon begin to understand what their raison d'être/scam is.

They exist basically to fool students, very often working adults trying to better their situations by getting a college degree, to take out government loans to get degrees (of questionable accreditation), if the students finish the program at all, the degrees are mostly worthless and not recognized by hiring directors, resulting in the students having substantial debt with very little to show for it.

I taught my students what I learned from my career and they got worthwhile portfolio pieces and graphics program knowledge from my classes, but I soon found I didn't want to be associated with such an institution and found another job as soon as I could and got the hell out of there.

Of course here are fields/areas of instruction offered at traditional colleges that can result in low-paying jobs but students who choose those fields do so because it's their area of interest, but there is no question of those institutions accreditation and the legitimacy of their degrees.

[Igel]

3. Should be expanded to non-profit colleges.

High-debt for low-value is a bad deal.

If it's a boutique degree because you want it, don't expect a subsidy.