The latest attempt to throw a collar on for-profit colleges is the The College Student Rebate Act of 2012. House Representatives John Tierney (D-Mass.) and George Miller (D-Calif.) put it in front of a congressional committee in mid-September.
(Truthout.org/Flickr)
Should the Act pass, it would require for-profit schools to devote 80% of their revenue to “educational and related expenses.” If they fail to do so, the schools would be required to refund an amount equal to the margin by which they exceeded the cap.
Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities (APSCU) President Steve Gunderson spoke against these latest proposed restrictions. If proprietary schools’ finances seem skewed toward non-academic expenditures more so than schools in other sectors, the reason is simple: They need to spend more money on recruiting, Gunderson says, to compete with non-profit and public universities that have high school guidance counselors to rely on for exposure.
For-profit schools must instead rely on “more traditional means of marketing and advertising,” according to Gunderson.
The problem is that many people regard these “traditional means” as predatory if not outright fraudulent.
