Did anyone really see this coming? Proprietary schools pushing hard against gainful employment approach

Indentured educated servants: prepare yourself for some intense battles. With little resources to promote our voice inside the beltway, the recent developments attacking the gainful employment rule are worrisome. In addition, we have a new and despicable sheriff in town, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC). But when it comes to the attacks, I doubt anyone saw these things coming, especially with regard to the proprietary schools. They're winning, and it is a crying shame.

Foxx is now the chairwoman of the higher-education subcommittee in the House of Representatives, and she has allies in the banking and student lending industry. She is against any form of regulation, and is targeting the gainful employment rule. Pell Grants are also vulnerable.

She also hopes to slash the budget of the Department of Education, and in ways that are not good for borrowers.

It sounds like those within the Department aren't too concerned. For instance, Eduardo Ochoa, assistant secretary for postsecondary education at the U.S. Education Department, stated that the new rules will probably not be disconcerting for the proprietary schools. He added, "The regulations as they come out are going to be significantly different—I think they're going to be better, nuanced, and I think that there's a lot there that people will appreciate having other views reflected."

When someone like Ochoa uses words like 'nuanced,' that is code for the following: "we've been lobbied and pressured so hard, that we're going to cave to the demands of the for-profit industry." Well, we can all rest easy, knowing that the very schools that ought to be regulated are drafting the new rules. After all, that is the way things work these days in Washington.

If these are Foxx's plans, you can imagine what that means for current borrowers who need relief and immediate solutions. Rest assured, I'm working on angles and have some propositions out there.  

That's why we need to organize and demand answers from Congressman Virginia Foxx.   

Original source: Eric Kelderman,"Rep Foxx calls for Streamlining Regulations and Cutting Spending," The Chronicle of Higher Education, January 25, 2011 

Related Links

Kelly Field, "Obama Calls for Spending Freeze but Says He'll Spare Education," The Chronicle of Higher Education, January 25, 2011

Shame more people didn't vote that way in her district.