© AFP Photo / Timothy A. Clary
A new proposal entitled the gainful-employment rule would force for-profit colleges in the US to disclose data on student default rates, attendance and completion. The regulation would slash federal student aid to courses where too many students defaulted on their loans or were in debt.
This, in turn, would deprive 7.5 million students access to higher education over the next ten years, says a report by the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities (APSCU).
The legislation would put the onus on for-profit higher education institutions to prove the estimated annual loan payment of an average graduate does not surpass 20 percent of their discretionary income. It would also ask for-profit schools to make sure the default rate for graduates doesn't exceed 30 percent.
APSCU's report describes the gainful employment proposal as "flawed, arbitrary and biased" and argues it would have a disproportionate effect on poorer students in the US. According to the report, the proposal does not take into account the fact that lower income students more often than not have to borrow more money to pay for their education.
APSCU predicts that 21.8 percent of the courses offered in these institutions would not be able to comply with the new rule and as a consequence it would deprive 44.2 percent of students of their places in for-profit schools.
Comment: Statistics report China has an aging population with over nine million burials every year. It is running out of space as urban cemeteries are nearing capacity and prices are skyrocketing for burial plots. The term "grave slave" describes a generation that must work hard simply to afford the the burials of themselves, their parents and ongoing cemetery payments.