2010-05

Calling for Enhanced Quality Higher Education Options for Hispanics

Representative Mara Candelaria Reardon (IN)

Short Title: Higher education quality

WHEREAS Latinos and other communities of color struggle with obesity at epidemic proportions; and

WHEREAS only one third of students at four-year colleges are minorities, but over half of career college students are minorities; and

WHEREAS President Obama has called on the United States to once again have the world’s highest college graduation rate by 2020, a goal which will only be achieved by maximizing the quality options for higher education that are available to minority students; and

WHEREAS the U.S. Department of Education has found that a number of career colleges fail to sufficiently assist students in finding employment after college that will allow them to successfully pay back student loans; and

WHEREAS the U.S. Department of Education is considering a “Gainful Employment” rule that may limit education and economic opportunities for hundreds of thousands of Americans by making entire programs ineligible for Title IV financial aid if they fail to meet a debt service-to-income ratio test; and

WHEREAS A "Gainful Employment" rule may disproportionally harm low-income and minority populations by discriminating against students who must borrow the needed tuition to attend college; without such financial aid, higher education opportunities will be limited for thousands of students; and

WHEREAS ensuring a transparent relationship between career colleges and their prospective students would improve the value of the education received and reduce the number of students who default on student loans; and

WHEREAS NHCSL members believe that enhanced programming quality may be achieved through more comprehensive policy frameworks than the currently-promoted gainful employment rule; and

WHEREAS career colleges play an important and valuable role in the preparation of Hispanics for jobs; and

WHEREAS, achieving quality higher education should be achieved through a combination of accreditation standards, measurement of multiple indicia of quality, and establishment of industry best practices; and

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the U.S. Department of Education should hold implementation of the new “Gainful Employment” rule until additional studies are performed which would look at specific remedies to address the abuses by some within the career college industry; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a committee of government, industry and other stakeholders should be established to carefully study and make comprehensive recommendations for the improvement of the career college industry for the betterment of Hispanics and all students served by these institutions; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a committee of government, industry and other stakeholders should be established to carefully study and make comprehensive recommendations for the improvement of the career college industry for the betterment of Hispanics and all students served by these institutions; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that among possible requirements of private higher education sector programs seeking qualification for Title IV financial aid, the Department of Education should consider:

1. Requiring career college associates to give prospective students accurate information regarding credit transferability, post-graduation employment options, the likelihood of graduation by program of study, and the total program cost; and

2. Requiring career colleges annually to evaluate the employment demand for graduates of given programs with intent to achieve graduate employment rates of 65%;

3. Requiring career colleges to only enter students the institution deems it has the “ability to benefit” into degree programs who have completed their GED or a US DOE acceptable alternative;

4.Requiring career colleges to maintain graduation records, offer graduates frequent career assistance and academic counseling, and annually survey graduates regarding their satisfaction;

5. Requiring a baseline skills assessment of all students entering the institution and making commensurate remedial courses and programs available to those students deemed “at need of improvement.”

6. Requiring an appropriate dedication of resources to remediation programs and resources available to students assesses as most “at need” when entering an institution.

7. Establishing the same or similar rules and standards of transparency, record keeping and accountability across all areas of higher education, including community colleges and other non-profit public and private higher educational institutions.

Sponsored By: Representative Mara Candelaria Reardon (IN)

THIS RESOLUTION WAS ADOPTED BY NHCSL AND RATIFIED AT ITS ANNUAL MEETING HELD IN SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS NOVEMBER 13TH, 2010.