Friday, February 4, 2011

Civil Rights Coalition Backs Tough Rules for For-Profit Colleges

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition of more than 200 national organizations, on Thursday released a letter strongly endorsing the proposed "gainful employment" regulations that would deny federal financial aid to programs that do result in employment with compensation sufficient to repay the loans.

The proposal is opposed by for-profit colleges that have spent hundred of millions of dollars lobbying against it.

The letter is designed in part to counter the lobbying campaign of the for-profit colleges which has argued that they institutions are helping low-income, minority students advance economically.

"For-profit colleges have launched an all-out campaign using the American Dream as bait to trap vulnerable students into underperforming schools and saddle them with a lifetime of debt,” said Nancy Zirkin, executive vice president of the Leadership Conference, in a statement. “We support the Education Department’s efforts to hold these schools accountable by issuing this rule and vigorously enforcing it.”

No comments: