For-Profit Education Increasing Lobbying Efforts to Block Gainful Employment Rule
In response to the proposed “gainful employment rule”, as described in my previous KPA e-newsletter article, ProPublica, an independent, non-profit, investigative newsroom, reports that for-profit institutions have increased their lobbying efforts in an effort to mount congressional pressure to stall the passage of the proposed regulation. According to ProPublica, several members of Congress have received substantial contributions, and coincidentally, take the position that the regulations are overly broad and written without due insight into the industry. Their stance, however, ignores one of the fundamental purposes of the regulations – to monitor deceptive practices and increase oversight over the staggering amount of federal funding offsetting student loan defaults. Let’s also not forget that the proposed regulations apply to all educational institutions, whether they are for profit or not. With the amount of money and effort the for-profit sector alone, which prides itself on providing an education to those who may not be able to receive one at a traditional institution, is expending to block a regulation aimed at protecting the very people they claim to service, you have to wonder what more they are hiding.
