Civil and Human Rights Coalition Urges Obama Administration to Hold For-Profit Colleges Accountable and Protect Students

Washington, D.C. – The Obama administration is close to finalizing a rule designed to crack down on career education programs – particularly those at profit-making colleges – that fail to prepare their students for “gainful employment.” After a protracted notice and comment process, the U.S. Department of Education has finally sent the proposed rule to the Office of Management and Budget for final review and approval.

Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement in support of a strong final rule:

“Access to education is a fundamental civil and human right, and for-profit colleges can provide a valuable service—but they do not have the right to exploit those they serve. Lacking common sense oversight, the worst actors are using the American Dream as bait to trap minorities, women, and low-income students into underperforming schools that don’t meet their needs.

As profits have soared, so have student loan default rates. Students enrolled in for-profit schools represent just 10 percent of all undergraduate students, but account for 44 percent of all student loan defaults. When these programs fail to deliver on their promises, students are saddled with debt and taxpayers are left on the hook.

Just as Wall Street is fighting to undermine the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other essential financial reforms, the for-profit college industry is fiercely resisting oversight that it sees as a threat to its bottom line, spending more than $4 million on hired lobbyists in the first quarter of 2011 alone.

The real bottom line, however, is students and their future. The ‘gainful employment’ rule is particularly important for: students of color, who represent about half of the undergraduate students in for-profit programs; low-income students, who make up six in 10 for-profit college students; women, who comprise nearly two-thirds of for-profit college undergraduates; and armed-service members and veterans, a growing population at many for-profit colleges since the passage of the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill.

The initial rule was scheduled to be released in October 2010. Since then, the U.S. Department of Education has solicited additional feedback to make certain that all facts and viewpoints are considered. Given the full, open, and transparent process used in drafting the rule, we urge the Office of Management and Budget to move expeditiously to approve the final rule. With millions of students making plans for the upcoming school year, it’s vitally important that a regulation that protects students and taxpayers and holds institutions accountable be in place and enforced as soon as possible.”

Wade Henderson is the president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its 200-plus member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.