The Coalition for Educational Success, a lobbying group for for-profit colleges that has waged an aggressive campaign against the Education Department’s “gainful employment” rule, has developed a code of conduct for its members.
The standards, which will be enforced by a foundation created by the coalition, require colleges that sign on to the voluntary program to provide prospective students with “clear and accurate” information, in writing, on program costs, completion rates, employment outcomes, and student-loan default rates. The standards also require colleges to disclose whether a program provides industry certifications or qualifies students for professional licensing examinations.
Under the code, recruiters must refer questions regarding student aid to the financial-aid office and new students must be given the opportunity to speak with a financial-aid officer before they sign an enrollment agreement. Colleges cannot guarantee students that they will graduate or obtain a job, and any college that advertises specific job-placement or compensation rates must back them up with written or electronic disclosures. Institutions are also required to notify students that academic-credit transfer decisions are up to receiving institutions.
If a college does not provide career services or career counseling, it must notify prospective students, in writing, before they enroll.
Taken together, the standards are a response to concerns that some for-profit colleges have misled prospective students about program costs, job prospects, and the transferability of credits. The Education Department has responded to that concern, in part, by tightening an almost-20-year-old ban on commissions for college recruiters and financial-aid administrators.
The code takes the department’s new “incentive compensation” rule a step further, requiring recruiters to complete an annual compliance course and certify that they’re following the rules.
In addition, it allows students to “try out” a college for at least 21 days without incurring any debt. The idea builds on the orientation concept pioneered by the University of Phoenix, which offers a three-week pass/fail course to students who enroll with relatively few credits.
Colleges that sign on to the code will have a year to comply with its standards. After that, they must submit to an annual audit of their compliance. The standards will be enforced by the foundation’s Board of Advisers, which includes two former governors with ties to the for-profit sector, a Harvard education researcher, a former president of the MacArthur Foundation, and the executive director of a group focused on reducing the high-school dropout rate.
