Lewin’s “Facing Cuts in Federal Aid, For-Profit Colleges Are in a Fight”
Tamar Lewin’s NYT article, “Facing Cuts in Federal Aid, For-Profit Colleges Are in a Fight,” offers a glimpse into a scary future for all of higher education, not just the for-profit sector.
She writes, “The regulations, known as the ‘gainful employment’ rules, are an effort to rein in the high debt loads students take on when they enroll in for-profit colleges that offer certificates or degrees in fields like nursing or culinary arts. Students at for-profit colleges are much more likely than others to default on their loans.
“Under the regulations, a draft of which came out in February, for-profit colleges would not be eligible to receive federal student aid if their graduates’ debt load was too high to be repaid, over 10 years, with 8 percent of their starting salary.”
Though this legislation is aimed at for-profits, one can easily imagine the federal government turning its sights on the non-profit sector next. While it is true that students who attend for-profits typically have twice as much debt as students attending non-profits, the debt rate for many students at these schools is alarming and climbing.
A copy of Lewin’s article may be found here.
Photo by tsuihin – TimoStudios
