UPDATE: House Blocks New Rules Affecting For-Profit Colleges
February 18 2011 - 3:48PM
Dow Jones News
House lawmakers voted on Friday to prevent the Department of
Education from blocking students at for-profit colleges from
accessing federal student aid, rules the industry has warned could
imperil the viability of the education sector.
In a 289-136 vote led by Republicans, the House said that no
money from a wider spending measure to fund the federal government
through the rest of fiscal 2011 could be used to put in place the
new rules. One lawmaker voted present.
The Department of Education determined last year that some
schools in the sector were overcharging students and not providing
them with decent training, leaving them burdened with heavy debt
loads and difficulty finding employment after they graduated.
Republicans countered that in an attempt to take action against
a few bad actors in the sector, the federal government was
threatening the entire industry.
For-profit post-secondary institutions have argued they provide
an opportunity for lower income, less educated people to gain
exposure to vocational training they could not otherwise
access.
The Education Department delayed releasing the final version of
the rule after receiving more than 90,000 comments during an open
comment period.
The proposed regulation has drawn criticism for how it would
measure debt repayment rates, its narrow focus on for-profit
institutions and the way in which the rule was crafted. The agency
is expected to issue the final regulation some time in the first
quarter of this year.
School lobbyists and executives have pressured members of
Congress to fight the regulation before its final release.
Opponents of the rule say it flies in the face of President
Barack Obama's initiative to increase the number of college
graduates, and to clear burdensome regulations from the books.
The amendment was authored by Rep. John Kline (R., Minn.), the
chairman of the Education and the Workplace Committee, and was
cosponsored by a bipartisan group of key House lawmakers.
"By blocking the administration's regulation, we prevented an
unnecessary hurdle to important skills and training at a time when
workers need every advantage to succeed in the workplace," Kline
said.
The House effort to allow continued federal aid at for-profit
colleges likely faces resistance in the Senate. Senate Education
Chairman Tom Harkin (D., Iowa), has held a series of hearings on
the educational merits of for-profit colleges, and Senate Majority
Whip Dick Durbin (D., Ill.) has been a vocal critic of the
schools.
The overall spending measure must still be approved by the
House, which is working its way through hundreds of amendments
filed to the legislation. Lawmakers have been working long hours
all week long in an attempt to complete the bill.
Republican leadership aides have said that a vote on final
passage to the legislation could occur late Friday or over the
weekend.
The bill cuts over $61 billion in federal spending in the
remaining seven months of the fiscal year, which ends on Sept.
30.
Senate Democrats and the White House have said they oppose the
House measure.
Despite this, Republicans have attached a large number of riders
to the bill, clearly indicating their opposition to a range of
Obama administration policies.
Congress must pass some spending legislation by midnight on
March 4 when the current temporary funding measure expires, or the
federal government will be forced to shut down.
-By Corey Boles, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6601;
corey.boles@dowjones.com
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