Blog: Students' Perspective Still Overlooked in Senate Hearings

The one person that legislators seemed least interested in during the career education-focused Senate hearings yesterday on Capitol Hill was the only student in attendance. Granted, she didn't come to the hearings bearing any title or representing any constituents. Yasmine Issa's presence was as understated in the day's testimony as the C-Span telecast that carried the action.

She sat quietly with her hands folded at her table and watched the conversation lob back and forth. Issa is the graduate of Sanford-Brown College who was featured in a Good Housekeeping article last month which dealt with her trouble in finding a job after graduation. Her degree, she said, had left her without the proper credentials for a job as an Ultrasound Technician.

While she waited, the conversation about default rates and retention statistics went on between Senators, a federal attorney, a representative of DeVry University, and “short seller” Steve Eisman. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee had convened a hearing to examine the career college sector Thursday. Absent was Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who had not been invited to testify. With the exception of Sharon Thomas Parrott who is Senior Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer for DeVry Inc., no career college advocates allowed to speak.

At one point, Sen. Tom Harkin, who was leading the proceedings, apologized for not including her in the discussion more. Near the hearing’s adjournment, he stopped the direction of the testimony to include Issa’s remarks. That led to a short question and answer session that lasted about two minutes.

Harkin quizzed Issa about how much she borrowed. She responded with $21,000, and clarified that about $14,000 of the total was borrowed directly from the institution. The other $7,000 she’d acquired through other educational pursuits. Her interest rate on her Sanford Brown loan is 6.8 percent. And, she said she wasn’t making it any longer. Her loan was deferred and the interest was still accumulating.

“What advice would you give students who are considering going to a private college?” Harkin asked.

“Not to go to them,” Issa said. “Go to a traditional college.”

When asked why she chose a career college over a junior college in her area, she said: “At the time I didn’t know there was one because of advertising. At the time, I Googled ultrasound and saw Sanford Brown.”

And, that was about it for Issa. Her story has been well documented, which might be why there was not any real substance behind her appearance other than to put a face to the student debt situation. Yet, through no fault of her own, she seemed to only represent herself – her own interests – and not really to embody all students with loan issues.

Several times during the testimony, Harkin said he was interested in getting to the bottom of this career college enigma for students’ sake. The hearings, though, seemed more focused on the government’s interests than anyone else’s, as if they were just realizing how much they’ve been paying out a billion or so annually to career colleges for the last decade.

“I don’t mind profit if you’re making a new iPod or something like that, but this is education and taxpayer money we’re talking about,” he said.

Well … yes it is. And anyone who has seen the massive advertising campaigns from colleges such as the University of Phoenix had to realize the budgets involved for marketing purposes alone. The real issue here seems to be housekeeping: the government needing to be aware of its own rules and regulations.

Harkin was unclear how to request drop out data from the Department of Education. He was reminded by Thomas Parrott while Eisman tried to convince him that drop-outs from career institutions merely evaporated. Harkin put it on the record that his committee was ignorant to some higher education practices and were trying to straighten out the statistics they’ve been presented.

Certainly, they have a lot on their plates, much of which is confusing. What’s perplexing to me, though, is not that they would need some time to understand the processes and digest the information. Rather, it was that it was such a revelation that the information was available to them. Harkin himself said he’d been studying the issue for months before convening the hearings, but he has to know substantial data is retention/attrition data is available from the US Department of Education.

During all the exchanges, Issa sat and listened. She was probably a bundle of nerves, though she looked composed. I’m sure the experience was a lot for her, and when it wasn’t her turn to talk, she might have spent her time anticipating what questions would come her way next. She may have been taking in some of what she heard. In the testimony that was put forth yesterday, I wonder if the faith she had in the Senate to straighten out her ordeal was stronger or weaker than when she stepped into the hearing room. But no one asked her.

By Kevin Kuzma, Editor, Career College Central