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Date: January 25th, 2008
Author: Kevin Kuzma

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CCA urges members to act now on Cohort Default Rate

Last week, the Career College Association issued an e-mail alert to its member institutions that included specific instructions for fighting newly proposed changes to the cohort default rate. Beneath the subject line, ACT NOW, the e-mail carried a high degree of urgency regarding the Grijalva/Bishop Amendment, which was recently adopted by the U.S. House of Representatives Education and Labor Committee.

The e-mail (included below), highlighted the ways in which career colleges will be negatively impacted by adjustments to the rate. I spoke with Harris Miller, president and CEO of the association, to discuss the amendment and its potential ramifications.

You can listen to our conversation.

CCA Member E-mail

ACT NOW

The Department of Education has released this week a new chart (attached) showing the impact of the Grijalva/Bishop Amendment, which was adopted by the U.S. House of Representatives Education and Labor Committee. The amendment would extend the calculation of the cohort default rate by one year. ED estimates that schools in our sector will have a 94% increase in their cohort default rate, much higher than any previous estimates. Many schools could quickly find themselves in danger of losing Title IV eligibility.

The House Education and Labor Committee majority staff have argued in defense of the amendment - on which no hearings were held and which was adopted in the Committee with almost no debate - that if a school has a high default rate, they will work closer with students to prevent them from defaulting (see attached report). They clearly do not take into account that the school has not had contact with the student in over three years under this new proposal, and that schools already spend a great deal of time and money counseling students.

We need as many Members of Congress to contact the House Leadership and the Chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, Rep. George Miller.

YOU MUST ACT NOW

1. Contact your Congressman now by calling and e-mailing their offices.

Call your Congressman by calling the main Capitol number, 202-225-3121, and asking to speak to their office. Ask to speak with the Legislative Assistant who handles higher education affairs for the Congressman. We need for your Congressman to contact the Chairman of the Education and Labor, Rep. George Miller, and ask him to remove this provision from the bill. We have provided talking points (attached) for your use. Please contact CCA Legislative Affairs Director Jake Kuhns at 202-336-6810 or JakeK@career.org with the results of your conversation. If you do not know who your Congressman is, go to CapWiz and it will provide the information.

E-mail your Congressman now. Go to CapWiz and send an e-mail to their office. A draft e-mail is attached. However, it is more effective if you write your own message.

2. Attend the CCA Fly-in and meet with your Members of Congress on Tuesday, January 29th. CCA will assist you in setting up your appointments. Our hotel block at the Hyatt Regency is full. CCA can help you find hotel rooms if you have any problems.

Kuzma is Editor-in-Chief of Career College Central. He is a former newspaper editor and public relations spokesperson. His feature writing, essays and short stories have appeared in The Kansas City Star, Urban Times, Ink Magazine and Fatherville.com, an online forum for fathers. Since May of 2005, he has served as Manager of Public Relations and Publications for PlattForm. The Kansas City-based company is a full-service Marketing, Advertising and Public Relations firm specializing in creative solutions for higher education and all branches of the U.S. military.

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