09-06-2016, 11:58 AM
(09-06-2016, 10:08 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: For a while now there has been a battle being waged against the for-profit higher education industry. Schools like Strayer, Kaplan, University of Phoenix, ITT Technical Institute, etc., have all been under intensified scrutiny. There are a number of reasons that this has been going on, but the tl;dr version is that the DoE, Congress, and a lot of members of the public feel that these schools prey on students and essentially fraud the system to receive federal funds and the high default rate on student loans from their graduates point to the schools not providing an education that will benefit the students.
ITT Tech has been one of the offenders that has brought all of this to the forefront. They have been the focus of investigations since at least 1998. As of 25 August the DoE banned them from enrolling new students with federal aid. They announced on 30 August that they would continue on with their current students, but would no longer be enrolling new students. As of today they have announced they will be closing their campuses.
So what does this mean going forward? Is this just the first step in what will be a continued effort to crack down on for-profit higher education? What do you think about the current students and the employees that will feel the effects of this action?
This is a shame, I always thought these schools were a good idea especially for working adults. College isn't for everyone, and I think many could benefit from a solid trade school of some sort. I don't know if some colleges do this or not, but I always thought they (colleges) should offer trade schools as well as traditional academics. I know a lot of colleges offer trade type learning, but to me it seems that it's usually in the medical field like pharmacy tech, ex-ray tech, bill and coding...etc. They should offer more IMO such as HVAC, plumbing, and electrical. Maybe even pair it with a business degree? Maybe they already do this and I'm just out of the loop. It's been a very long time since I've stepped in a class room.
