Releases and Statements

CECU’s Statement on Federal Student Aid’s Use of Secret Shoppers as an Oversight Tool

3/14/2023

Arlington, VA – Today, Federal Student Aid’s Office of Enforcement announced it has added the use of “secret shoppers” to monitor and investigate misrepresentation and fraud in Title IV eligible higher education marketing, recruitment, enrollment, and other practices.

“We support reasonable practices that hold all institutions accountable for misrepresentations that financially harm students and taxpayers; however, the federal government has a track record of using secret shopper investigations to malign politically unfavored institutions with distorted findings that later result in the need for public correction,” said Nicholas Kent, CECU’s chief policy officer. “Given the current administration’s animus toward for-profit institutions, we are concerned this self-proclaimed ‘tool’ will be used as a weapon to inflict further damage upon private career schools and limit student choice.”

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About Career Education Colleges and Universities
Career Education Colleges and Universities (CECU) is the national association serving the proprietary higher education sector.

Please direct media inquiries to Jenny Faubert, Vice President of Communications, at Jenny.Faubert@career.org.

Legal Challenge Brought Against U.S. Department of Education’s Unlawful Borrower Defense to Repayment Rule

2/28/2023

February 28, 2023

Arlington, VA – Today, a complaint was filed in a Texas federal court challenging the U.S. Department of Education (Department)’s recently promulgated borrower defense to repayment rule (BDR Rule). CECU regional partner Career Colleges & Schools of Texas (CCST) initiated the lawsuit in an effort to set aside the unlawful BDR Rule on the grounds that it violates the U.S. Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act, which sets out the process and procedures that federal agencies must follow in making and enforcing rules and regulations. CECU supports this effort and is proud of CCST’s leadership in bringing this critical legal challenge to fight for the future of career education students and schools, which are essential to meeting the needs of our country’s healthcare, infrastructure, and other skilled trade industries.

CECU has previously and repeatedly stated that a legal challenge, like the one now brought by CCST, could be necessary if the Department refused to withdraw and replace the deficient BDR Rule, which is currently set to take effect on July 1, 2023. Over the past several months, CECU has spearheaded a multi-pronged campaign to raise awareness about the devastating impact of the BDR Rule and advocate for its withdrawal. We have long supported carefully considered and thoughtful Department rules and policies that promote (as well as protect) the interests of both students and schools alike. This BDR Rule, however, fails in each respect.

CECU is confident that the Texas court will reach the correct legal determination and set aside the newly promulgated BDR Rule, which threatens to irreparably harm the American higher education system and deny generations of students access to career education. Students who are harmed by unlawful actions should be protected, but the Department must also be bound by the law, and act properly within its authority.

“The Department’s newly promulgated rule suffers from fatal due process deficiencies and threatens crippling liability for schools across the country,” said CECU president and CEO, Dr. Jason Altmire. “CECU has led the sector’s response to these unlawful regulations because they irrationally expand the potential acts and omissions of schools that give rise to a borrower defense to loan repayment, while eliminating the procedural protections necessary to protect schools against erroneous loan discharges and presumptions of liability.”

The complaint is available here.

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CECU’s Response to the Department of Education’s Low-Financial-Value Postsecondary Programs List Request for Information

2/10/2023

Arlington, VA – Today, Career Education Colleges and Universities submitted our comment letter to the U.S. Department of Education’s Request for Information Regarding Public Transparency for Low-Financial-Value Postsecondary Programs.

“We applaud the Department for opening up the process and giving all stakeholders the opportunity to provide comments on ways to identify low-financial-value postsecondary programs,” said CECU’s President and CEO, Dr. Jason Altmire. “Our hope is that the Department will seriously consider our constructive and thoughtful comments to ensure that prospective students, their families, and taxpayers have access to meaningful, accurate information on all sectors of higher education.”

Background
On January 11, 2023, the Biden administration announced its intent to publish a watch list of “low-financial-value postsecondary programs” and solicited public feedback on the best ways to identify and publicize these programs to promote greater transparency and accountability in higher education. According to the announcement, the Department is concerned there are too many low-financial-value postsecondary programs, defined in the notice as those in which the “total costs exceed the financial benefits provided to students.”

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About Career Education Colleges and Universities
Career Education Colleges and Universities (CECU) is the national association serving the proprietary higher education sector.

CECU's Statement on Flawed Public Agenda Report

1/31/2023

Arlington, VA – The following is CECU’s statement regarding Public Agenda's report on student experiences at for-profit colleges.

“This dishonest report has skewed the data to arrive at a preferred conclusion. As one example, comparing an entire group consisting of for-profit alumni, current students, and non-completing students to a subgroup consisting only of current community college students is unfair and blatantly biased. Another defect of the methodology is grouping together all types of for-profit institutions — four-year, two-year, and less than two-year — in comparison to two-year community colleges,” said CECU’s President and CEO, Dr. Jason Altmire. “This report was conducted with either flawed methodology or with a purposeful intent to achieve an ideologically driven outcome. Either way, the report is simply not credible. We would welcome a more accurate and statistically valid comparison of institutions in order to engage in a meaningful conversation on how to improve the value of postsecondary education for all students.”

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House Republicans introduce PELL Act creating a workforce Pell Grant program

1/25/2023

Arlington, VA – Today, Reps. Stefanik, Foxx, Banks, Hinson, and Thompson introduced the Promoting Employment and Lifelong Learning (PELL) Act. The PELL Act would amend the Higher Education Act making certain short-term workforce programs eligible for the Federal Pell Grant.

“This legislation creates new opportunities for students who are in financial need while expanding the pipeline of the high-demand jobs so desperately needed in the American workforce. In expanding financial aid eligibility to shorter-term programs, this bill allows students to choose the school and program that best suits their needs and fits their life circumstances,” said CECU’s President and CEO, Dr. Jason Altmire. “Rather than the government limiting students to schools based upon the institution’s tax status, this bill creates metrics to ensure that all participating schools offer high-quality, in-demand programs. We are grateful for the leadership of Chairwoman Foxx and Rep. Stefanik in introducing this important legislation, and we look forward to working with the committee as the bill advances through the process.”

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CECU’s Statement on the Department of Education’s Intention to Create a List of “Low-Value” Schools

1/10/2023

Arlington, VA – Today the U.S. Department of Education released a notice requesting information regarding public transparency for low-financial-value postsecondary programs for public inspection in the Federal Register.

“The Department has a well-established bias against for-profit institutions and a zeal for weaponizing the tools at its disposal to make it more difficult for those schools to serve students. That said, we are encouraged by this solicitation," said CECU’s President and CEO, Dr. Jason Altmire.

"The Under Secretary has made a genuine attempt to learn more and solicit feedback from affected institutions. This has not always been the case, and we will be contributing our views in response to the notice. Rather than simply being a “name-and-shame” list, we hope the proposed list will provide information about all schools, not only for-profits, and that the data metrics used will not unfairly shield politically favored institutions from scrutiny. We also hope thoughtful consideration will be given to the fact that some programs produce workers in occupations that are valuable to society but do not earn a lot of money after graduation; characterizing these programs as ‘low-value’ could be harmful to our nation’s workforce.

"Overall, the Department’s solicitation is a positive sign that perhaps the Biden administration’s policy deliberations will be informed more by facts and data than by political ideology. The proof is in the pudding, but this is a step in the right direction."

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CECU Statement on Judge William Alsup’s Approval of the Sweet v. Cardona Settlement

11/16/2022

Arlington, VA – Today, Judge William Alsup in the Northern District of California approved the borrower defense class settlement in Sweet v. Cardona.

“The four intervenor schools made a compelling case that the Sweet settlement represents an unlawful overreach by the Department of Education and unfairly maligns over 150 institutions without any opportunity to respond. We are disappointed that Judge Alsup overlooked these defects and approved the settlement,” said CECU’s President and CEO, Dr. Jason Altmire. “We expect that the Ninth Circuit on appeal will recognize these fatal flaws and send the parties back to the negotiating table."

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