Are for-profit colleges exploiting Black and Latino students? A collective of civil rights groups says so.
The Leadership Conference Education Fund recently released its policy brief, “Gainful Employment: A Civil Rights Perspective,” in which it details the exploitation of Black and Latino students by for-profit colleges. The group urges the Department of Education to enforce the Higher Education Act and protect students. The brief was signed by 21 civil rights, consumer lending, and education groups. They are demanding Education Secretary DeVos draft a new rule to advance equity and protect students’ civil rights.
Among the groups who signed are: The Leadership Conference Education Fund, American Federation of Teachers, Children’s Defense Fund, NAACP, NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, National Urban League, and The Education Trust.
According to the policy brief, for-profit colleges disproportionately enroll African-American and Latino students and leave those students with low-quality credentials and high amounts of debt. “For-profit colleges account for 33 percent of all student loan defaults even though they make up only 9 percent of total postsecondary enrollment,” stated a press release from the group.
“Higher education should open doors to new opportunities, not close them through crushing debt and a low-quality degree,” said Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference Education Fund. “Our gainful employment brief demonstrates the magnitude of this problem and offers concrete steps to ensure African American and Latino students are not exploited in their pursuit of higher education. The Education Department must do its job in ensuring that students are treated fairly and have access to the education that will allow them to succeed in careers and life.”
“A strong gainful employment rule is urgently needed to hold predatory for-profit institutions accountable for harmful practices that sink vulnerable African American and Latino students further into debt and exacerbate existing racial disparities in educational opportunities,” said Kristen Clarke, president and executive director at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “We call on the Department of Education to immediately issue a new rule that puts students first and holds for-profit institutions accountable.”
“We must hold accountable predatory for-profit colleges that disproportionately lure students of color and their families into enrolling in high-cost, low-quality programs,” said Mike Calhoun, president of the Center for Responsible Lending. “These institutions reap profits off taxpayer-funded financial aid and their poor outcomes contribute to the nation’s still growing $1.5 trillion student debt crisis. Higher education should be the bridge to a better quality of life instead of a mountain of debt that financially buries consumers.”
