WASHINGTON, DC (Press Release)– U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) stood with students Thursday, May 15, and sent a letter to U.S. Department of Education urging it to put in place stronger protections for students in career education programs—particularly those at for-profit colleges—who take on significant debt to attend but are frequently left with meager job prospects. Schatz sent the letter together with Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), and U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Tom Carper (D-Del.).
“In Hawai‘i, just two percent of students at non-profit schools default on their student loans, but at for-profits, students’ default rate jumps up to 24 percent,” Senator Schatz said. “This has become a national scandal, wasting millions of federal dollars. It is not a radical proposal to ask for some accountability.”
The Higher Education Act requires all career education programs to prepare students for “gainful employment in a recognized occupation” in order to be eligible to receive federal student aid. The senators are urging the Department of Education to strengthen and improve its recently proposed rule to better protect students and taxpayers. A 2012 report found that between 2009 and 2010, more than half a million students at for-profit colleges left with debt but no diploma, despite a $32 billion annual investment by taxpayers in the schools.
In their letter, the Senators specifically urged Secretary Duncan to establish a rule that would:
Hold career education programs accountable based on students’ ability to repay their loans, not just when they default.
Better protect borrowers from poorly performing programs by limiting enrollment until the programs improve.
Require failing programs to give loan relief to their students.
Exempt low-cost programs that pose little risk to students and are not part of problem.
Earlier this year, Schatz introduced the College Affordability and Innovation Act of 2014 with Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), legislation that would incentivize schools to create new, innovative programs to bring down the cost of college while improving the quality of a degree. The bill would also set new standards for schools that receive federal funding so that they’re more accountable to students and taxpayers.
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Preceding provided by U.S. Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii