The National Consumer Law Center just released a report proposing recommendations for state governments to increase oversight of for-profit schools. For-profit schools have been a problem for student-loan borrowers because tuition tends to be fairly high while graduation rates are low and post-graduation employment rates also are low. As a result, NCLC, a consumer advocate group, advocates for stronger government oversight of for-profit schools. To that end, NCLC’s new report calls for the states to develop stronger laws and agencies to oversee for-profit schools. The report makes several recommendations to states, such as:
- States should require for-profit schools to have minimum graduation and job placement rates as a condition for state approval;
- Establish procedures for resolving student complaints – because many illegal practices go unpunished due to states’ lack of procedures for investigating and resolving complaints from students; and
- The agency that oversees for-profit schools should have consumer protection expertise and experience in regulating for-profit businesses;
These are only 3 of the 10 recommendations the NCLC put forth for states in the regulation of for-profit schools. To see the rest of the recommendations, check out the full NCLC report.
