New College of Florida may have violated federal law by dangling the prospect of increased pay to admissions staff members if they recruited a larger-than-usual incoming class for the upcoming academic year, experts said on Thursday.
The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported Thursday that Richard Corcoran, the interim president, “offered $5,000 bonuses to the admissions staff for reaching the goal of enrolling at least 300 new students” in a March meeting, citing three unnamed sources. A college spokesman, Nate March, confirmed the increased pay to the newspaper, saying, “High achievement deserves a reward, and increased pay will be implemented to recognize the diligent work of the admissions team in assembling this record-breaking class.”
But federal law prohibits colleges that collect federal financial aid from offering “any commission, bonus, or other incentive payment based directly or indirectly on success in securing enrollments.”
The U.S. Department of Education did not return a request for comment.
Experts said the college may have run afoul of the law.
“Anything that is tied to enrollment numbers is going to be problematic,” said Scott Schneider, a higher-education lawyer with Husch Blackwell. “When you connect it directly it can cause problems. I don’t think it would fly under incentive-compensation rules.”
March told The Chronicle that the college had not “confirmed” the existence of bonuses to the newspaper, and pledged to comply with the law. He provided the statement characterizing the March meeting that the college had sent to the Herald-Tribune.
“The meeting included discussion of increased pay for the student recruitment team if the 300-student goal was achieved,” that statement read, in part.
He added that the statement did not include the term “bonuses” and that “no monetary value was mentioned.” March said no pay increases have taken place, but “when that implementation takes place, it will be in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations.”
The incentive prohibition was put in place in the 1990s to go after largely for-profit colleges, which were offering bonus payments to recruiters for enrolling students who later felt deceived, said Kevin Carey, vice president for education policy and knowledge management at New America. In the time since, the government has acted against institutions that violate it. Punishments can range from a total loss of federal aid to a settlement with a fine to a promise not to do it again, said Carey, who has periodically written for The Chronicle.
The rule is under discussion currently because of the role of outside firms contracted by colleges to deliver student enrollment to the institution, Carey said.
The Herald-Tribune story also said Corcoran called the admissions department his “Seal Team Six,” referencing the Navy Seal team that killed Osama bin Laden.
Corcoran, a former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, was named interim president by the college’s overhauled Board of Trustees in February, part of Gov. Ron DeSantis’s plan to turn the institution into the “Hillsdale of the South,” referencing the Michigan private college that is popular in conservative circles.
The newspaper report noted the incoming class had 328 students in it. New College officials said in the story that classes in three of the previous four years failed to reach 200 students.
“It is a little disturbing that the first thing the new administration at New College is doing is breaking a law that was designed” to protect students, Carey said.
