House just passed the $1.15 trillion omnibus spending bill by a vote of 316-113. The omnibus was released earlier this week. It now heads to the Senate for passage later this afternoon.
Category: Student Aid
Ed Takes Aim at Accreditors
Today, Dept. of Education officials announced a series of actions centering on transparency in an effort to force accreditors to focus more on student outcomes and hold failing colleges accountable. For the most part, the accrediting agencies will not be required to change their practices. Instead, ED hopes to drive change by publishing and disseminating a wealth of information about accreditors and the colleges they oversee on a revamped department web page. One definite change accrediting agencies will have to make: submitting decision letters – which the department will then publish online – when they put institutions on probation.
GI Benefits Returned Because of Bad Actors?
Last week, The Defense Department’s chief of voluntary education, Dawn Bilodeau, recently placed the chain of for-profit colleges on probation and said no new active duty service members can enroll under its tuition assistance program. The University of Phoenix is the most popular destination for Post-9/11 GI Bill college goers. This prohibition could be a hot topic today as an education advisory committee to the Veterans Affairs Department Secretary gathers for a two-day meeting starting today. Bilodeau sits on the advisory committee and the University of Phoenix has RSVP’d for the meeting.
Meanwhile, the Education Department has been working with the Defense and Justice departments on an ongoing investigation. University of Phoenix President Timothy Slottow recently wrote to hundreds of thousands of alumni and students to defend the schools’ track record.
The Defense Department’s action does not affect veterans using the GI Bill. And yet, some veterans advocacy groups say the VA should be more aggressive about cutting off GI Bill dollars when schools have deceived students.
It is possible that the meeting will address whether GI Bill recipients, who attended the now-defunct chain of Corinthian schools, should have their benefits reset, which would require congressional action.
University of Phoenix Being Investigated
The Departments of Justice and Education announced they are are coordinating on on-going investigations of the University of Phoenix a day after the Pentagon barred the for-profit school giant from recruiting on military bases and placed it on probation for alleged recruiting violations.
The Department of Defense took the action after the University of Phoenix, among other things, used military “challenge coins” when recruiting troops. The commonly used and given coins—which are bigger than a silver dollar and often have unit insignia—are often given by those in the military to one another for a job well done or to commemorate an event. The University of Phoenix used trademarked seals and insignia on their coins without the consent of the military, which appears to the crux of the issue. Phoenix has said it has since stopped using such coins.
In June, the Department of Education said it had established an interagency task force, led by Under Secretary Ted Mitchell, to help ensure proper accountability for and oversight of career colleges and for-profit institutions.
Arne Duncan to Step Down in December
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has announced that he will step down at the end of December. He was one the last remaining original cabinet appointees and will have served six years.
His family recently returned to Chicago, where Duncan ran public schools for several years before his appointment as Secretary of Education. During his tenure, Duncan repeatedly clashed with teachers unions, parents, and Congress through initiatives like Common Core and support of charter schools.
Former New York state commissioner John King, a deputy secretary at the agency for the last few months, will take his place.