Published: April 2015

Holding for-profit schools accountable

The purpose of new gainful employment rules that are taking effect later this year is to ensure for-profit schools demonstrate that their programs are actually training graduates to earn a living. However, the Supporting Academic Freedom through Regulatory Relief Act seeks to repeal gainful employment protections and provide for-profit institutions access to billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded student aid.

Consumer Action joined a coalition of 45 organizations – working on behalf of students, consumers, veterans, faculty and staff, civil rights, and college access – and sent a letter to legislators expressing their strong opposition of the Supporting Academic Freedom through Regulatory Relief Act (HR 970, S 559). The bill would repeal the recently finalized gainful employment regulation that takes effect July 1, 2015 and requires all career education programs receiving Title IV funding “prepare students for gainful employment in a recognized occupation.”

Under the new gainful employment rules, for-profit colleges will be at risk of losing their federal funding should the school’s average graduate’s annual loan repayments exceed 20% of their discretionary income, or 8% of their total earnings.

Lead Organization

The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS)

Other Organizations

Air Force Sergeants Association American Association of University Professors (AAUP) American Association of University Women (AAUW) American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO Americans for Financial Reform | Center for Law and Social Policy | Center for Public Interest Law | Center for Responsible Lending | Children’s Advocacy Institute | Consumer Action | Consumers Union | Crittenton Women’s Union | Demos | The Education Trust | The Institute for College Access & Success | Generation Progress | The Leadership | Conference on Civil and Human Rights | League of United Latin American Citizens | Mississippi Center for Justice NAACP | NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. | National Association for Black Veterans, Inc. (NABVETS) | National Association for College Admission Counseling | National Association of Consumer Advocates | National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients) | National Consumers League | National Education Association NCLR (National Council of La Raza) | New Economy Project | The Other 98% | Paralyzed Veterans of America | Public Citizen | Public Counsel | Public Good Law Center | Service Employees International Union | Student Debt Crisis | United States Student Association | U.S. PIRG | Veterans Education Success | VetJobs | VetsFirst, a program of United Spinal Association | Vietnam Veterans of America | Woodstock Institute | Young Invincibles

More Information

For more information, please visit the TICAS website.

Download PDF

Holding for-profit schools accountable   (CoalitionLetterOpposingHR970andS559_April23_2015_45Organizations.pdf)