Administration to punish colleges for poor education

The Obama administration will begin penalizing colleges that do not prepare students to find jobs in their chosen career paths after graduation.

The Education Department’s controversial “gainful employment” regulations went into effect Wednesday. The rules target for-profit colleges and universities that do not adequately prepare students for life after graduation.

Schools must demonstrate their students are earning enough money upon graduation to pay for their student loans or else risk losing federal aid. This will be measured by comparing graduation rates, the amount of debt students graduate with and how much money they earn after graduation.

{mosads}The Education Department estimates nearly 1,400 colleges educating 840,000 students will fail the new requirements. They’ll be given an opportunity to correct the problem.

Neither schools nor students are happy with the rule.

Schools argue the gainful employment rule will lead to fewer education opportunities for students. They say it is not an accurate gauge of students’ earnings, because it measures their salaries right after college before they have the opportunity to rise in their careers.

The Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities, which is opposing the rule, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The group recently warned “the primary impact of the regulation will be to deprive hundreds of thousands of students of access to higher education.”

But students groups say the rule is too weak and doesn’t go far enough to protect students from poorly performing colleges and universities.

“I’m glad to see a rule in place providing some accountability for students and taxpayers, but our work is not done,” said Rory O’Sullivan, deputy director of Young Invincibles.

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