CCA President, Board Members Speak at Department of Education Hearings

On October 8^th, the Department of Education hosted in Washington, DC the fifth in a series of hearings across the country to determine the concerns regarding the implementation of the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) and determine how to structure the negotiated rulemaking process.  Several dozen representatives from a wide variety of interests, including trade associations, education-focused companies, the recording industry, and career colleges, spoke to the panel and to the audience about their particular hopes and concerns for the negotiated rulemaking process.  These interests run the gamut from distance education to 90-10, cohort default rates to transfer of credit, campus security to campus network copyright infringement.  Among the career college representatives were a number of CCA members who testified about the impact of the new legislation on the career college sector and what they would like the negotiated rulemaking committees to consider, including:  Mary Durell from Career Education Corporation; Elaine Neely from Kaplan Higher Education; Mark Pelesh from Corinthian Colleges; Richard Them from Education Management Corporation; and Nancy Broff on behalf of ITT. 

CCA’s President, Harris Miller, also spoke to the panel to address CCA’s concerns about two specific issues, 90-10 and cohort default rates (CDR).  On the issue of 90-10, Miller discussed how the changes to the 90-10 rules should be addressed.  Furthermore, Miller suggested that only schools that are affected by the 90-10 issue be included in the negotiated rulemaking process, namely, career colleges.  On the issue of CDRs, Miller emphasized a study commissioned by CCA and conducted by the Indiana University School of Education that found no linkage between the type or quality of educational institutions and the rate at which borrowers default on their student loans.  He continued by saying that higher CDRs by career college students are indicative of the more difficult socio-economic circumstances of these students, and not of their institution’s academic quality.  To that end, Miller urged the Department of Education “to adopt a policy of wide latitude and reasonable forbearance in imposing sanctions on schools exceeding the CDR threshold.  Any other policy is apt to foreclose access to higher education for those most dependent on career education for upward mobility.”  For a full copy of CCA’s testimony to the panel, please click here.

The Department of Education will be holding a sixth and final hearing on the negotiated rulemaking process on Wednesday, October 15^th in Warrensville Heights, OH.  If you are in this region and would like to attend the hearing, please click on the following link for more information.  CCA contact: Gregory Rovick.