A bipartisan group of six lawmakers today released a letter sent to Acting U.S. Comptroller General Gene Dodaro seeking answers about controversial revisions to an August 2010 U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report critical of recruiting practices at proprietary colleges and universities. The revisions to the GAO report were released on November 30, 2010, and included major changes to ... Read more »
Rep. John Kline (R-MN) was selected today to serve as Chairman of the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee in the 112th Congress. Kline, who was first elected to Congress in 2002 and is currently the committee's Senior Republican Member, issued the following statement: “Job creation and American competitiveness are vital national priorities. As Chairman, I will ensure they are at the forefront... Read more »
Rep. John Kline (R-MN), the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee’s senior Republican member, today outlined broad-based priorities for education and employment policy that will promote American competitiveness and hold government accountable. Kline is asking for the support of his fellow Republicans as he seeks the chairmanship of the committee for the 112th Congress. “Job number one for the i... Read more »
Dear Colleague: With nearly 15 million Americans unemployed and looking for work, we should be doing all we can to help job-seekers get the skills, training, and credentials they need to re-enter the workforce. Unfortunately, regulations proposed by the U.S. Department of Education threaten to reduce postsecondary options for students by restricting access to student aid at certain institutions. ... Read more »
Congress may not have been in session these last several weeks, but plenty has been happening in Washington and around the nation. Below is a brief recap of notable education and labor news – what you might have missed and what is worth watching in the waning days of the congressional session. Common Standards Pave Way for National Tests For months, advocates for local control of education have wa... Read more »
Dear Secretary Duncan: Given the significant investment of taxpayer resources in postsecondary education, the federal government has an obligation to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse in the student aid programs. One important way to protect the integrity of federal student aid is to ensure participating institutions provide a high-quality education to their students. Any institution misusing feder... Read more »
Here is something college students probably didn’t want to learn on their way back to school: thanks to ObamaCare, many may soon lose their school-sponsored health care plan. An editorial from the Wall Street Journal provides the details on why some college students risk losing their current health care plan: Big Foot on Campus Why colleges want a waiver from ObamaCare. In the movie "Animal House,... Read more »
Dear Secretary Duncan: Thank you for this opportunity to comment on the proposed program integrity regulations included in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking published in the Federal Register on June 18, 2010. We share your goal of strengthening accountability and integrity among the institutions that participate in the federal student aid programs and agree a number of the issues included inthe p... Read more »
Rep. John Kline (R-MN), the top Republican on the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee, issued the following statement today in response to a proposed federal definition of “gainful employment” that would set federal caps on students’ ability to finance their higher education at certain institutions: “Like the misguided proposal that preceded it, this proposed regulation uses federal price con... Read more »
Thank you Mr. Chairman, and good morning. The topic of today’s hearing, broadly speaking, is accreditation. It is a system of peer review and program approval that has a long history in American higher education. Accreditation is widely viewed as a seal of approval – a sign of program quality. In our higher education system, accrediting agencies are entrusted with a great deal of authority, determ... Read more »
