In rules that apply only to for-profit schools, also known as career colleges, student loans and Pell Grants could be cut off by the Department of Education if "gainful employment" standards aren't met. The University of Phoenix is one of the better known career colleges.
But it turns out that much of the justification for the new rules comes from a flawed General Accounting Office report. At least 13 key passages of that report have been revised.
From the Washington Post:
The revised report, posted Nov. 30 on the GAO Web site, changed some key passages. In one anecdote cited as an example of deceptive marketing, the GAO originally reported: "Undercover applicant was told that he could earn up to $100 an hour as a massage therapist. While this may be possible, according to the [Bureau of Labor Statistics] 90 percent of all massage therapists in California make less than $34 per hour."Sen. Mike Enzi, the ranking Republican on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee says the revisions bring forth "a number of troubling questions" since they appear "substantial" in nature and "undermine many of the allegations." Not surprisingly, HELP's chairman, big-deal liberal Tom Harkin (D-IA), defended the initial report.
The revised version states: "While one school representative indicated to the undercover applicant that he could earn up to $30 an hour as a massage therapist, another representative told the applicant that the school's massage instructors and directors can earn $150-$200 an hour. While this may be possible, according to the BLS, 90 percent of all massage therapists in California make less than $34 per hour."
In another example, the report originally stated that a college representative "told the undercover applicant that by the time the college would be required by [the] Education [Department] to verify any information about the applicant, the applicant would have already graduated from the 7-month program."
The revised version states that "the undercover applicant suggested" that possibility and the "representative acknowledged this was true."
On a personal note, a close friend of mine and a loyal Marathon Pundit leader just graduated from a for-profit college and she is strongly supportive of my posts on this subject.
Related posts:
The Department of Education's war on career colleges
Idiotic edu-crats attacking for-profit colleges
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