Career colleges fulfill a vital role in the American education system (Rep. Edolphus “Ed” Towns)

More than three-quarters of students enrolled in career
colleges live independently without parental support, 43 percent are minorities
and 47 percent have dependent children. Career colleges offer customization and
flexibility to students who are single parents or work full-time jobs while
pursuing an education. Half of these students are the first generation of their
family to attend college.

Yet, for all the good these schools do, career colleges
have come under intense scrutiny in recent months since the U. S. Department of
Education announced its intentions to impose a broad range of new rules
designed to enhance regulation of federal student aid programs at these
for-profit institutions. Most notable among the proposed rules was a
controversial requirement known as the “gainful employment rule” that would
require former students of for-profit colleges to repay their federal student
loans at a sufficient rate and not spend a disproportionate portion of their
earnings in paying off their loans.

Specifically, the rule would require that for-profit
colleges have at least 45 percent of their former students paying back their
federal student loans or their former students must be paying less than 20
percent of their discretionary income or less than 8 percent of their gross
pay. This rule was developed because a greater percentage of former students of
career colleges were defaulting on their loans and there were accusations that
many of these students were not getting an adequate level of education for
their investment.

I agreed with this line of reasoning early on and
initially supported the rule. However, after visiting several career college
campuses and hearing stories of young people who believed these colleges
afforded them their only chance to improve their knowledge and skills and get a
better job, I decided we needed to take another look at the gainful employment
rule. Many of these students are at a greater risk financially, and it should
not be surprising that default rates are higher.

While I continue to support the department in its efforts
to rein in bad actors in the for-profit college industry, as I have indicated
to Education Secretary Arne Duncan during the public comment period for the
proposed rule, I believe the rule might dramatically limit programs available
to minority and other at-risk students based on goals that are inconsistent
with loan-default standards set forth in the Title IV statute. Furthermore, I
have also indicated that more data are needed before the department implements
broad-sweeping regulations that could potentially have a devastating impact on
these schools.

Career colleges have moved quickly to meet the growing
number of new applicants that has exploded as the labor market has shifted to a
more technology intense environment. They have proven to be more nimble than
traditional schools in creating job training programs necessary to boost local
economies. The number of these colleges has grown enormously in the last
several years with enrollment growing from about 365,000 in 2000 to nearly 2
million in recent years and is expected to double by 2015.

I have spoken with many of my colleagues, and we agree
that Education Secretary Arne Duncan is faced with a very difficult job of
expanding educational opportunities while balancing concerns about the
appropriate use of limited taxpayer dollars. We hope that he will be sensitive
to the fact that so many students would not have the opportunity to improve the
quality of their lives without career colleges.

Career colleges will be a critical component in reaching
President Obama’s goal of the United States having the highest proportion of college
graduates in the world by 2020. The U.S. was number one in 2000 but in the last
decade slipped to sixth place. If we are to be on top again, career colleges
will play a vital role in this effort.

Rep. Towns is a member of the Oversight and Government
Reform Committee.