WASHINGTON – Just a few hours after the U.S. Department of Education released the full text of its proposed regulations to define “gainful employment” last Friday, two groups that rarely weigh in on education issues circulated news releases expressing concern that the rule would limit minority students’ access to postsecondary education.
In its statement, MANA: A National Latina Organization said that the proposed regulations would “adversely affect Hispanic students’ ability to borrow money and will limit Hispanic students’ access to higher education.” The National Black Chamber of Commerce said the rules would “disproportionately harm low-income and minority populations by discriminating against students who must borrow the needed tuition to attend college.”
On Monday, the day when the regulations were published in the Federal Register in a notice of proposed rule-making, two more groups that represent minority groups but usually don’t wade into higher education policy debates — the National Organization of Black Elected Legislative Women and the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators — made similar statements.
To proponents of the gainful employment regulations, minority advocacy groups and the for-profit colleges seem unlikely bedfellows. Advocates of the rules argue that they would not deny students access to higher education or to federal financial aid, but would instead redirect students to better programs, whether at nonprofit or for-profit institutions.
Full story: News: In Whose Interest? – Inside Higher Ed