All Articles Tagged "higher education"
For-Profit Colleges Finally Pay The Price
As it turns out, those colleges that play commercials demanding that you “get off of your couch” and get an education aren’t really interested in whether you actually get up or not. As long as you sign your name on the line, and ultimately pad their bottom line, you can pretty much just stay seated. The Justice Department and four states have filed a multibillion-dollar fraud suit against the Education Management Corporation, claiming that the for-profit college company was not eligible for the $11 billion in state and federal financial aid it had received from July 2003 through June 2011, The New York Times reports.
The company, which operates schools under the names Art Institute, Argosy University, Brown Mackie College and South University, is being accused of falsely certifying that it was complying with the law, making it eligible to receive billions in student financial aid. They will also have to answer to whistle-blower’s claims that the corporation paid recruiters based on how many students they enrolled. But what is more troubling, and on a level that transcends the fraud against the government, is the fraud these people were committing against students in low-income communities.
First, the schools target students who are in dire financial need, and make their financial situations even worse. For-profit colleges “now serve more than 10 percent of the students enrolled in higher education, yet account for about half of all defaults on student loans,” the Times reports. Could this be because graduates of these programs can’t find the plethora of jobs non-existent jobs promised to them by recruiters? “The complaint said the company had a ‘boiler-room style sales culture’ in which recruiters were instructed to use high-pressure sales techniques and inflated claims about career placement to increase student enrollment, regardless of applicants’ qualifications,” the Times says. And speaking of those qualifications, these colleges really don’t require any. All you need is a name and a willingness to sign it on a sheet of paper. “Recruiters were encouraged to enroll even applicants who were unable to write coherently, who appeared to be under the influence of drugs or who sought to enroll in an online program but had no computer,” the Times reports. “According to the suit, recruits were also led to exploit applicant’s psychological vulnerabilities – for example, a parent’s hopes of moving a child out of a dangerous neighborhood.”
And what makes matters worse, the Education Management Corporation is 41 percent owned by Goldman Sachs, a Wall Street giant that has a proven record of not touching these graduates with a ten-foot pole.
At the very least, I hope this suit will result in a moratorium on all commercials that demand I turn off the TV and attend their schools. Ideally, I hope the Justice Department wipes the floor with these fools.
University System Expands Programs While Other Agencies Cut Millions
(AJC) — Southwest Georgia residents will soon be able to earn a bachelor’s degree in nursing thanks to a program coming to Albany’s Darton College. But that’s nothing new. Already that degree is available just 5 miles away at Albany State University. And about 30 miles away at Georgia Southwestern State University. The Darton option became possible after the state Board of Regents, which governs the University System of Georgia, this spring allowed the two-year college and five others to become state colleges so they can offer four-year bachelor degrees in areas such as health care, science and technology.
Finish School or Start a Business?
(Entrepreneur) — The middle-aged person you’re going to be in a couple decades will miss the education you’re getting now if you don’t in fact get it. It’s usually not a smart idea to sell yourself short by not having an education. Mind you, don’t get the education just because not having a degree will be like walking around for the rest of your life with reduced options. Get it because it will help you live every facet of your life — including your business life and career — better.
Harvard Takes Teachers to School on Black History
(AP) — Every semester, Cheryl Carpenter tries to think of new ways to introduce Zora Neale Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God” to her college students. An English instructor at Alabama A&M, a historically black college in Normal, Ala., Carpenter said students sometimes are confused about the setting and context of the 1937 novel about an independent black woman’s quest for identity. But after listening to Temple University history professor Bettye Collier-Thomas talk at a Harvard University program how she dove into dusty attics and forgotten archival material to research her book on black women leaders, Carpenter said she immediately came up with ideas to recreate visual scenes through her lectures. Carpenter and around two dozen college teachers from around the country are participating this month in a Harvard program aimed at training professors to integrate more black history into their classrooms and research projects.
Are Black Frats Living up to Their Legacy?
(Uptown Magazine) — As the men of Alpha Phi Alpha were concluding their centennial celebration in 2006, thousands of men in crimson and cream and purple and gold were gearing up for theirs in 2011. By the end of July 2011, two other historically black fraternities, Kappa Alpha Psi and Omega Psi Phi, would have hosted their centennial conclaves celebrating 100 years of achievement, manhood, scholarship and uplift. While turning 100 is a significant milestone for any organization, it is particularly sweet for these two fraternities born out of a climate of racism, resistance and ostracism.
Tuition Hikes Sudden and Steep
(Smart Money) — With freshman orientation right around the corner, many college students and their parents are about to get a surprise that could derail years of careful financial planning: last-minute tuition increases and cuts to financial aid packages promised just a few short months ago. As states have finalized their budgets in recent weeks and months, cuts to public college funding have started to trickle down to parents and students. Since March, at least 19 states have cut money for public colleges. Some states, including Illinois and Georgia, are also slashing grants awarded to students just a few months ago. Still more families won’t find out about changes to tuition and financial aid packages until the end of the summer or even after the semester begins — what experts say is the longest delay ever. “This will create real hardship for these students and may impact directly on their ability to enroll this fall,” says Tom Horgan, president of the New Hampshire College and University Council.
Paterson’s Teachable Moment
(Wall Street Journal) — When he was governor, David A. Paterson likened his job to quicksand and doubted that any executive could bring to heel Albany’s notoriously obstinate Legislature. And on Monday, in a radio interview, Mr. Paterson said he was baffled at how his successor, Andrew Cuomo, was able to win the passage of same-sex marriage. Starting this fall at New York University, Mr. Paterson will explore these mysteries of Albany in a teaching assignment, a seminar titled “The Teachable Art of Governing.” The new course will meet once a week for 2½ hours and is open to freshmen students enrolled in the College of Arts and Science’s honors program. Mr. Paterson will offer students a “view into the day-to-day working knowledge of politics,” according to a course guide.
Michigan Court Reverses Affirmative Action Ban
(Reuters) – A federal appeals court on Friday struck down a Michigan law that banned affirmative action in college admissions, creating the possibility of a U.S. Supreme Court battle. The 6th U.S. Circuit of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, found that a 2006 amendment to the Michigan constitution, “unconstitutionally alters Michigan’s political structure by impermissibly burdening racial minorities.” Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette said he will appeal the ruling through a formal request for a rehearing by the entire 6th Circuit. The law, known as the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, will stay in effect pending a final decision.
Black Man Hands Out Whites-Only Scholarship
(WFAA) – On the surface, it was a simple scholarship presentation Thursday afternoon. But, the $500 grant Brendan Baird won is for whites only and Marcus Carter, an African-American, awarded it. ”Just because you don’t benefit directly doesn’t mean it isn’t beneficial,” Carter, 27, explained. The U.S. Army veteran is the vice president of the Former Majority Association for Equality, a group that awards scholarships solely to white men. ”It just got really frustrating when every other scholarship you happen to find online you need not apply to based on your ethnicity or gender,” said Colby Bohannan, one of FMAFE’s founders.
Black Higher Learning Leads to Higher Earnings
(FinalCall.com) - To attend an Historically Black College and University (HBCU) or not is the question many Black high school students face every year. New research from Morehouse College economist Gregory N. Price and two fellow economists from Howard University, William Spriggs and Omari H. Swinton, finds graduates of HBCUs do better in the labor market long term than non-HBCU grads. Their report, “The Relative Returns to Graduating from a Historically Black College/University,” considered the benefits of earning a baccalaureate degree from an HBCU compared to a non-HBCU for Black Americans. “Our results lend support to the idea that HBCUs continue to have a compelling educational justification, as the labor market outcomes of their graduates are superior to what they would have been had they graduated from a non-HBCU,” according to their article. The researchers “Suggest that HBCU graduates realize higher earnings relative to non-HBCU. As such, our results lend support to the idea that HBCUs have a comparative advantage in nurturing the self-image, self-esteem and identity of graduates, which theoretically matters for labor market outcomes.”
