Guest Post: Exceptions Don’t Make For Good Examples

By Craig Smith

The Association of For-Profit  Private Sector Colleges and Universities is out with yet another round of advertisements aimed at stopping the U.S. Department of Education’s proposed gainful employment regulations. This ad features Karri Danner, who as you can see in this Career College Association award ceremony, has a truly amazing story -- in fact, an exceptional story. But that is not what the current ads being promoted by the for-profit sector want the public to believe. They want the public to believe that Karri Danner is the typical, successful student and that such students will be hurt by the new regulations.

Karri Danner attended Education Management Corporation’s Brown Mackie College in Findlay, Ohio, received a degree, and became a licensed practical nurse. We don’t know how Ms. Danner paid for college or what her current debt level from school is, but we can assume it is manageable given that she is clearly satisfied with her experience. That's great for her, but what about her classmates?

According to the U.S. Department of Education’s Estimated Repayment Rates for 2009, only 21 percent of students who left Brown Mackie College-Findlay over the past four years have paid down any principal on their federal student loans. At the same time, according to the Department’s 3-year cohort default rates for 2007, 23 percent of students who attended Brown Mackie College-Findlay and entered repayment in 2007 had defaulted on their federal loans by 2009. 

So, less than one-quarter of students who attended this particular for-profit institution of higher education are paying down their loans, and nearly one-quarter default. Clearly, Karri Danner is an exceptional student, or more accurately, she had an exceptional experience.

Now lest we fall prey to the same tactics the for-profit sector are employing of taking a singular example and implying the whole is identical, let me say that obviously there are for-profit programs and schools that have far better repayment and cohort default rates. That is exactly why the gainful employment regulations are constructed as they are. Under the proposed rules, only a small percentage of programs (programs, not schools!) will close, while the majority of programs will continue to serve students.

However, programs need to serve the majority of students, not just a few exceptions. It is time for the for-profit sector to stop using its broad advertising brush to fear-monger and suggest that whole schools and millions of students will be negatively impacted. Closing programs that can not meet these minimum thresholds is for the benefit of students and their families as a whole, and will not impede student access and/or harm our national economy.

Perhaps the for-profit sector should pour millions of dollars into helping improve programs and students rather spending it on spin and advertising.

Craig Smith is the Deputy Director of Higher Education for the American Federation of Teachers where his primary responsibilities are field services and communications with an emphasis on political and legislative action. Prior to joining the AFT’s national staff, he was a full-time faculty member and local union president at Salt Lake Community College. Craig blogs regularly on AFT’s Faculty and College Excellence website. His views are his own and not necessarily those of the New America Foundation.