Blog: The Right Time to Defend Career Education

By Kevin Kuzma

The "for-profit" education sector is indefensible -- at the moment. After last week's Senate hearing in which damaging "secret shopper" footage unearthed perceived "systemic" violations in admissions and financial aid practices at 15 career college campuses throughout the United States, no one cares to hear a counter argument right now, and that goes for some career college executives.

Instead, the sector seems to be reacting to the findings of the US Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) study with a more introspective and action-oriented approach. Of the colleges located in six states and Washington, D.C., a few are already implementing measures to correct the issues. Kaplan College has suspended admissions at its Penbroke Pines campus. The University of Phoenix reaffirmed its commitment to new, self-imposed student protections, and yet also acknowledged its shortcomings in the GAO sting. Westwood College announced that it has begun a series of reforms aimed at cleaning up questionable recruitment tactics. And, the Career College Association (CCA) has proposed a number of measures and is addressing a code of conduct for its member schools.

CCA’s guidance during the fallout has sounded parental at times. When he hasn’t been issuing warnings, CCA President Harris Miller has been reinforcing his belief in for-profit schools: a few might need to tighten up recruitment and admissions approaches, but by and large, the sector does not conduct business the way it was portrayed in footage captured by the GAO. His comments have indicated a need for, as he put it, “not PR change … real change.” For CCA, that means returning to the sector’s roots and clearly putting an emphasis back on students. Nearly all of Miller’s words have been focused inward – to for-profit school owners directly – including a code of conduct that CCA is developing that its members must abide by or else.

While schools that were targeted for investigation sort out issues, the sector is holding its course, awaiting more evidence to see how widespread the recruitment violations might actually be. At the conclusion of last week’s hearing, Senator Tom Harkin noted that he would be requesting more information from schools in an attempt to put a number on the drop outs that he has noted as alarming several times during the proceedings on Capitol Hill.

True to his word, last week at least nine publicly traded for-profit education companies reported that the Senators have requested more information from them regarding their recruitment practices and use of financial aid for students. Apollo Group, Career Education, Capella Education, DeVry and ITT Educational Services received requests for information from the U.S. Senate's education panel, the companies said on Friday. Brightpoint Education, National American University Holdings, American Public Education and Universal Technical Institute also received notices.

Miller has noted that Harkin might have asked the GAO to perform more secret shopper visits to create a slightly larger picture of the career college recruitment culture. Later this week, ABC News will be attacking the sector in three separate timeslots – Good Morning America (during which they will show the results of their own mystery shopping), ABC Nightly News and Nightline. Miller will be interviewed Thursday morning to comment on the sector’s reaction to the GAO investigation. According to some sources, stock short-seller Steve Eisman and disgruntled former employees will also be interviewed.  

With all that stacked against the sector, it would be understandable if some leaders distanced themselves from the recruitment practices outside of their own operations like an employer who’s about to let an employee go. But that is all in the short term.

The reassessment of career education will come in stages. The first stage is the most awkward, and it’s happening now. The sector is being confronted with its perceived flaws and the negativity is going to turn worse before it improves any. The battle ground is a very public stage now, with more testimony to come in Washington, with more schools announcing that they are reviewing their own recruitments plans, and of course the news segments that will spread the word to an even broader audience.

But career colleges will win this fight in a much smaller venue … the 2,000 or so individual campuses where students brave enormous life circumstances to pursue a higher education and turn their lives around. Fifteen schools have been brought into question so far, and I’m sure another 15 can be found where potential students are regularly treated fairly and honestly, where there’s no need whatsoever for financial aid or admissions practices to be redrawn.

If there are flaws in the way some career colleges recruit students, then it most certainly applies to other types of institutions, too, which have not drawn the ire of the Senate. Given the unfairness and adversity it’s facing, career colleges would do well to study the motivations of their students. The lessons could be beneficial for some schools, in more ways than one.