Valdez: Your college stinks? Call the suicide hotline
A group of nursing students at a for-profit college in Tucson were given the number of the suicide hotline after finding out how badly they’d been ripped off, according to a report in The Arizona Daily Star. It shows why its crazy to kowtow to the free market instead of backing strong regulation.
The Brown Mackie College in Tucson used unqualified instructors and veterinarian supplies to train students who went into debt for the program, according to reports.
Some wound up with $30,000 student loan debts. But when it came time for independent testing, they didn't know the material.
Brown Mackie’s parent organization is Education Management Corp. It faces fraud-related allegations in 11 states. Fourteen state attorneys general are investigating their business practices. Arizona AG Mark Brnovich is not among them.
There have been efforts to limit the damage from schools like this. Obama gets credit.
Under the federal “gainful employment rule” a student at a for-profit school must be able to find work that pays enough so their student loan payment is manageable. Schools can become ineligible for federal aid if too many of their students can’t do that.
That was a major move by the Obama administration against for-profit colleges that take the money and graduate students who are unable to get jobs.
“Too often, students at some of the largest career colleges – most run by for-profit companies – enroll with hopes of finding a good job but instead are left saddled with debt in exchange for a worthless degree or certificate,” the Department of Education said in explaining the rule last month.
Obama wanted to do more.
He wanted a federal college ratings system to help potential students evaluate schools.
It was a great idea that also aimed to get Congress to tie federal student aid to a college’s performance.
Obama retreated after he hit a buzz saw of opposition from the GOP and colleges.
Too bad for the kids at the private Brown Mackie College in Tucson and others like them who are looking to better their lives and get bested by greedy institutions instead.
The CEO of Brown Mackie’s parent Education Management Corp. makes a salary of $6 million and the CFO gets $3.5 million.
“I feel cheated and used,” Shaylene Muckle told the Star. She’s a single mother of three who now has $30,000 in student loans. “I sacrificed so much to go back to school and now I’m worse off than before.”
Those who kowtow to the free market and oppose adequate regulation are aiding and abetting the abuse of Americans who go to shady for-profit schools that don’t deliver a useful education.
Obama has done his best to protect people from such predators. The folks on the other side of the aisle did their best to block progress.