[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 27 (Friday, February 18, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E308]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             FULL-YEAR CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2011

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. DONALD M. PAYNE

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 17, 2011

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1) making 
     appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other 
     departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 2011, and for other purposes:

  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Chair, under the Higher Education Act, proprietary 
colleges and universities and career training programs are required to 
offer programs that lead to gainful employment in a legally recognized 
occupation in order to participate in the federal student aid programs. 
In July 2010, the Department of Education published a proposed rule to 
enforce this statutory requirement. While I share the Department's 
desire to ensure that federal financial aid dollars are spent wisely 
and that students are not taken advantage of, my concern is that the 
proposed rule does not accurately address this purpose and the 
consequences have not been fully considered.
  Rather than using actual measures of educational quality such as job 
placement and graduation rates, the Department is promulgating a 
regulation that defines ``gainful employment'' through a complex matrix 
that examines the student loan debt-to-income ratio of graduates to the 
student loan repayment rate of graduates in the programs. The proposed 
rule would also require the US Department of Education to approve every 
new program created at a proprietary institution prior to the start of 
the program. This proposed rule needs to be further developed and 
possible unintended consequences considered.
  In the midst of our economic crisis and high national unemployment 
rate, there remains a group of employers who struggle to find workers 
with skill sets required for today's changing job market. These 
employers have, in some cases, partnered with community and career 
colleges to build a 21st century workforce. Today, more than 6 million 
non-traditional students--including single parents, displaced workers, 
and low income individuals--are enrolled in community colleges and 
another 2.8 million in career colleges to develop the skills necessary 
to advance in the 21st century workplace.
  Yes, there are ``bad apples'' among career preparation programs, who 
are taking advantage of vulnerable populations. In fact, before coming 
to Congress, I was at the forefront of an effort to close a beauty 
school in New Jersey which had done a disservice to students in the 
area. For this reason, again, I share the concern of many regarding the 
abuse of Title IV funds as well as any institutional action which would 
cause a student academic failure or financial harm. However, I also 
know that many good career colleges and community college programs 
exist that remain strong partners in the effort to meet the President's 
goal of leading the world in the percentage of college graduates by 
2020.
  My concern is that the Department's rule, while addressing poor 
quality programs, will have a negative impact on high quality programs 
as well. Therefore, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this 
amendment to provide for the reevaluation of the proposed metric system 
and full consideration of its impact.

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