Evonda,
Since your school is new to Title IV I am interested in what differences you see since the transition from the non-Title IV school to the Title IV school? Would you mind sharing your experiences?
Cindy Bryant
Michelle,
It is unfortunate that a group of students must be denied the right to receive federal aid however, it is a great that schools like yours continue to offer opportunities for ATB students to achieve their goal of an education.
Cindy Bryant
Ashley,
The USDE has put more responsibility on State Regulators and Accrediting bodies. This has led both regulatory bodies to increase their oversight which has created a heightened sense of oversight for the schools. Doing the right thing has not changed and never will. Every school must continue to strive to do the right thing. Thank you for your comments.
Cindy Bryant
The regulatory environment has changed in that the USDE has now put more responsibility on State Regulators and Accrediting bodies to monitor schools within their state.
My company has always worked hard to be above the curve when it comes to upcoming regulatory changes and have strived to immediately put in to practice any state mandated changes into not only our forms, but our daily procedures.
This has helped with School Accountability as well as for all employees to "DO the Right Thing" in all our interactions with students, regardless of where they are in the process of their education.
The biggest change that has impacted our school is the requirement for a GED or High School Diploma in order to receive Title IV funding. As the Wonderlic test is no longer allowed our school has seen a decrease in student enrollment. However, in an effort to be proactive, our school offers a free GED three-month course for any individual wishing to receive a GED. The course was established for three reasons. First, to assist those individuals that wish to attain a GED which is beneficial for employment. Secondly,to give individuals that did not complete school an opportunity to achieve a diploma. Finally, to build a relationship with perspective individuals that would like to continue his/her education with our school. The GED course builds the foundation.
The regulatory environment, especially with regard to for-profit higher education, is increasingly becoming more stringent. With the passing of the program integrity regulations and the critique of for-profit education in the press and in the political arena it directly impacts many decisions that schools make in regards to communicating with prospective and current students.
The school that I work for has always abided by the "do the right thing" mentality and we are continuously focused on improving our institutional effectiveness, student outcomes, and graduate success.
The current regulations do make us think twice before we put anything to print, and it necessitates very structured discussions our prospective students have with admissions representatives. Both of which are positive and bring about more honest communication.
For the most part, it hasn't changed much in the way we do things on a day-to-day basis. The education department continues to focus on student learning, and our admissions and marketing departments continue to maintain honest communication with our prospective students. The career services department is working hard to improve feedback from employers to verify graduate employment and the response rate, at this time, is acceptable but we are striving for optimal.
If we continue to follow the golden rule, the current regulations shouldn't have any significant impact on us.
Over the last five years there have been regulatory requirements to encourage and promote schools to be more accountable. Our school is a relatively new school in the Title 4 financial aid process who's mission encouraged accountability without regulatory requirements.
Over the last five years there have been regulatory requirements to encourage and promote schools to be more accountable. Our school is a relatively new school in the Title 4 financial aid process who's mission encouraged accountability without regulatory requirements.
Regulatory scrutiny has increased over the past few years. Employees and students of the for profit education sector have started a public dialogue about the business and recruiting tactics at some schools. The government and other regulatory bodies have found it necessary to further examine some of these complaints. Our schools face some challenges in overcoming the stigma of the influence of being owned by a corporation with investors and shareholders. I think a heavier focus on student success and achievment versus student enrollment will help the sector as a whole.
Lisa,
Welcome to the forum. I think it very exciting that the course has been able to enlighten you.
Cindy Bryant
I'm new to both the school and the United States, so I find the regulatory environment completely novel. For my part, I find the regulatory environment and regulations themselves to be quite helpful, with clear explanations of what are the expectations of the regulatory body towards the school, its administration and instructors as well as students.
I have high hopes that all admissions departments can eventually learn to embrace these new regulations to have a positive effect on the industry. I feel that the regulatory changes have actually been to the benefit of our industry goals. Yes – some institutions have suffered financially, or even completely – but THANK YOU that they are no longer shedding negative light on our overall goal. As educators and institutions that educate, we should all have the mission of providing excellent career training with the goal to provide highly skilled employable graduates. If we do not do this, we are sabotaging the entire industry as a whole.
I completed my bachelors and masters degrees through what felt like a “diploma mill.†Heck – even my most recent attempt at completing my Doctoral degree felt as though they could’ve cared less about our level of education – just complete the assignments and get the degree. There where people in my cohort that wrote more poorly than most fifth graders. It was atrocious – not just apparent lack of writing ability (to include the basics of grammar, spelling, and punctuation) but manners and attitudes in which they completed their forum dialogue.
I do not want any of my students or graduates feeling as though they got pushed through the system. I’d rather hear them grumble about additional “outside work†and our strict adherence to standards – that means we’re doing our job.
I actually believe that all these regulations will actually help the career college industry as a whole. Those that choose not to comply will be cut out and our industry will eventually outshine the state funded colleges. At least students will know that they can get continuing career assistance – we won’t even be able to continue offering courses for programs that don’t meet employment standards. Our students even can audit classes for free, return as Program Advisory Committee members, and participate in any of our events for students and alumni. I never got any of that from my community college or state universities.
Vivian,
Welcome to the forum. Based on the fact that Safe Harbors were eliminated eliminating bonuses and commission for Admissions Departments how has that impacted daily operations at your campus?
Cindy Bryant
Danielle,
Hi! Though we may haggle over finer details of regulation, whether they have gone too far or have not gone far enough, there is widespread approval of regulation. Regulation keep us moving forward and keep us in line with integrity and many times our own mission statement.
Cindy Bryant
The landscape seems to be changing daily, especially for financial aid and online learning. We have added new personnel to keep pace with the changes as well as to work with other states to make sure we are compliant with their regulations for online learning.
The increase in negative press has caused a major change in the overall regulations that we follow. we have made extra efforts to make sure that we are in compliance with these changes. It hasn't made a huge impact on our school because we have always tried to follow the ragualions but we have had to make changes here and there.
The regulatory environment has changed over the past few years in many ways. One way it has changed is that bonuses and commission for Admissions Departments can no longer be given.
Kathy,
A few years ago securing employment verification's was a much simpler process. Today it is much more complicated and requires time and manpower. We are not only verifying the student but verify the employer and the school adviser. I would like to say that the process will ease up in the future but I feel that we will need to practice this regiment until we have earned the legislator's and public's trust once again.
Cindy Bryant
We've always been cognizant of the needs of the accreditation body for reporting but in the past we didn't always get supporting information from the employer - if we had a verbal confirmation from the graduate that they were employed or returning to school that was sufficient.
To provide further support of our employed and waived statuses we now look for additional level of support from the school they are returning to or written verification directly from the employer and strive to get the job duties to show the relationship to the field.
The regulatory environment stresses transparency thru full disclosure. And since transparancy builds trust, that creates a competitive advantage for our school. It also builds high standards and creates values which in turn lead to high performance standards for our students.
