Monday, October 14, 2013

Things that make you go hmm,,, in higher education

I have been lucky to have experiences with both for-profits and non-profits, both as an administrator and student. While there might be some slight differences, the one thing that unites them all is that they want to keep their students and recruit more students.
I have been saying for years now that there should be more collaboration between for-profits and the traditional sector because they both have different strengths that could complement the respective weaknesses. However, higher education being what it is, it it will be a while before that chasm is significantly crossed and the various institutions are truly talking about helping students together.
That being said, and article I was reading this morning bothered me a great deal because it seems like an unfair double standard.
“Differentiation vs. Discrimination”
“The Obama administration is toughening its regulation of for-profit colleges in numerous straightforward ways, most notably and publicly by taking another shot (after a federal judge blocked the last one) at drafting rules requiring vocational programs to prove that they are preparing students for "gainful employment."”
“But advocates for the colleges and other, more independent observers accuse administration officials of discriminating against for-profit institutions in a less-visible way, too -- and twisting federal statutes to do so”.
“Specifically, they say, the U.S. Education Department is differentially applying rules governing state authorization of higher education programs, requiring for-profit institutions in California that are regionally accredited by the Western Association of Colleges and School to go through a rigorous state approval process from which the department has agreed to exempt nonprofit colleges that are accredited by WASC”.
 
I will let you decide for yourselves, but just think about it, because in the end it is about helping students.
Dr Flavius A B Akerele
The ETeam

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