A federal judge has vacated several provisions of the controversial “gainful employment” rule, which the Department of Education issued last year in an effort to ensure that federal student-aid dollars flowing to vocational programs were good investments and helping prepare students for jobs that pay well. The decision, by Judge Rudolph Contreras of the U.S. District Court for the District of Col... Read more »
President Obama likes to say that everyone in America should "play by the same rules." Okay, so then why does the Administration's new student-loan rule apply to for-profit colleges, but not nonprofits? The regulations that go into effect in July cut off federal student aid to career and technical colleges whose former students don't meet the Education Department's definition of "gainful employme... Read more »
By Rep. John Kline (R-MN) Unless Congress takes action, student loan interest rates for millions of borrowers will double in just a few short weeks. The House has already done its part by approving the Interest Rate Reduction Act, bipartisan legislation that will prevent a scheduled interest rate increase on subsidized Stafford Loans without piling additional costs on taxpayers. In an effort to f... Read more »
The Department of Labor reports 3.7 million jobs remain unfilled, despite the fact that nearly 13 million unemployed Americans are searching for work. Employers largely attribute this discrepancy to a lack of skilled workers, and many workers report the nation’s federal workforce development system is failing to provide the training and education they need to succeed. On Thursday, the House Commit... Read more »
By Reps. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), Howard "Buck" McKeon (R-CA), and Joe Heck (R-NV) In January, President Obama told the story of Jackie Bray, who found employment after participating in a job training program at a local community college. The president urged Congress to "cut through the maze of confusing training programs" so workers have "one program" for all the help they need and help provide two... Read more »
This week, the administration announced another version of the stimulus-era Race to the Top program, this time geared toward individual school districts. The new program is expected to cost taxpayers $400 million, and requires local school districts to adopt sweeping Department of Education mandates in order to be eligible for federal grants. Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secon... Read more »
Some of the Obama Administration's worst regulatory abuses have arrived via the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)—think of its lawsuit to stop Boeing from making airplanes in the right-to-work state of South Carolina. But such overreach is too much for at least one federal judge, who on Monday overturned the board's political favor to the AFL-CIO that threw out longstanding union election law... Read more »
More than a decade ago, Congress established a new workforce investment system to provide individuals with the skills and training necessary to succeed in the workplace. Regrettably, the system has since corroded, shifting from a helpful network of employment support to the confusing maze of bureaucracy and redundant programs detailed in the Wall Street Journal editorial below. While President Ob... Read more »
Student loan borrowers continue to come forward with troubling stories of the problems plaguing the Department of Education’s management of the Direct Loan Program and, worse, the Obama administration’s seeming inability to address widespread complaints. An article in today’s edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education describes the myriad challenges borrowers confront with the Direct Loan Progra... Read more »
Since Democrats put the Department of Education in charge of originating and overseeing every new higher education loan in the country, a growing number of borrowers have expressed frustration with a range of problems plaguing the Direct Loan Program, from poor customer service and breaches in personal security to an ineffective loan rehabilitation process that puts borrowers’ credit in jeopardy. ... Read more »
