Rep. Mark Takano Applauds the Administration Issuing Gainful Employment Regulation

Washington DC - Earlier today, Rep. Mark Takano commended the Administration on issuing a proposed gainful employment regulation designed to protect students against unmanageable debt and worthless degrees, noting that he would prefer a rule that would implement even stricter regulations.

 

“I commend the Administration for its efforts to ensure that our students are receiving quality post-secondary education,” said Rep. Takano. “Far too often, for-profit colleges use predatory and deceptive tactics to bully our students into so-called ‘career-education’ programs that are extremely expensive and fail to prepare them for a career. While I am concerned that the gainful employment regulation does not go far enough, specifically in its treatment of programs that are about to lose eligibility for federal financial aid and its omission of loan repayment rates as a metric for eligibility, it is a step in the right direction. I hope that the Department of Education continues to tweak the rule to strengthen those specific provisions by October so implementation can begin next year and our students can finally receive the protection they deserve.”

 

The proposed rule comes after the Department of Education formed a panel of fourteen negotiators, which included critics of and representatives from the for-profit education industry, to participate in a rule-making session on gainful employment. In November, the Department of Education released draft regulatory language. 

 

The general public now has the ability to comment on the proposed rule in the Federal Register for 60 days. After the public comment period has concluded, the Department of Education will have several months to make further changes to the rule until it is sent to the Office of Management and Budget for review. The final rule must be published by October 30 for the rule to take effect in July 2015.

 

The for-profit college industry is a multi-billion dollar industry that enrolls nearly 10% of all post-secondary school students and receives about 25% of all Pell Grants and federal student loans. However, it accounts for nearly half of student loan defaults.