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The U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce, chaired by Rep. John Kline (R-MN), today held a hearing to review the Department of Education’s proposed gainful employment regulation.

The hearing examined bipartisan concerns the regulation would impose arbitrary requirements on proprietary colleges, deny access to students, destroy jobs, and undermine the strength of the American workforce.

“More than three million students attend proprietary colleges each year,” stated Chairman Kline. “These colleges provide students with skills that can be applied immediately to specific jobs in the workforce. As our unemployment rate continues to hover around nine percent and more than thirteen million Americans remain out of work, proprietary colleges address a critical need in today’s economy.”

Ms. Catherine Barreto, a graduate of Monroe College, described her positive experience attending a proprietary college for her associates and bachelors degrees. “Classes were a good size and I received close attention by my professors. They did not only teach me, they seemed interested in my success,” said Ms. Barreto. She went on to explain how job fair events hosted by Monroe College helped her find new career opportunities, and led her to her current managerial position in the hospitality industry.

“I have not fully explained the difficulties I have had in my life and troubles I have endured, but I want you to know that I could not have done it without the opportunities provided to me from Monroe College,” Ms. Barreto added.

The gainful employment regulation would levy reporting burdens on proprietary colleges and force administrators to seek federal approval before creating new programs. Ms. Jeanne Herrmann, Chief Operating Officer of the proprietary Globe University, said the regulation would limit Globe’s ability to design new programs for high-demand industries and should be abandoned in favor of targeted, common sense solutions that encourage transparency and protect both consumers and taxpayers.

“We fully support the President’s objective of regaining the nation’s premier rank in proportion of citizens with at least one year of postsecondary education by 2020, but the GE proposed rule will actually work against that objective by restricting choice and access,” Ms. Herrmann said. “We simply do not understand why the federal government would, especially at this time in our country’s history, seek to implement a rule that would impact job placement in fast-growing occupations. In short, the Department could not have contrived a more anti-student and thereby anti-employer and anti-taxpayer proposed rule.”

Many proprietary colleges provide specified training programs that meet the needs of local economies. Mr. Travis Jennings, electrical supervisor with Orbital Sciences Corporation in Arizona, frequently turns to proprietary colleges when recruiting new employees.  Mr. Jennings said these institutions “understand the needs of their end customers: potential employers” and “actively practice continuous improvement through the use of industry advisory communities.”

“These advisory committees allow industry leaders the opportunity to provide constructive feedback and recommendations for curriculum enhancement based on graduate performance in the industry,” Mr. Jennings explained.  Such efforts help proprietary colleges ensure their graduates are best prepared to successfully enter the workforce in their chosen field.

Dr. Phil Roe (R-TN) echoed Mr. Travis’ comments by reinforcing proprietary colleges’ unique ability to meet the demands of local economies. “They have noticed a niche in the market,” he said. “A company comes to town and says, ‘we need this type of program for our particular job need,’ [and] the for-profit is able to adjust for that very quickly and not jump through as many hoops to get it done.”

“At its heart, this issue is about student choice,” Chairman Kline concluded. “We all support transparency and accountability. We realize there are some bad actors that should be rooted out. But we should not deny students the opportunity to attend the college of their choice and gain the valuable skills they need to compete in the workforce.”

To read testimony and view related documents from today’s hearing, visit www.republicans-edlabor.house.gov/hearings.

 

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