by EMILY DERUY, the Atlantic
A new study offers a look at what happens when schools shutter. Dozens of for-profit colleges could be forced to close in the next several years. This week, the Obama administration published a list of schools and programs that are at risk of losing access to the federal loans many of them depend on to survive. More than 800 vocational programs the department reviewed (at for-profit schools, private nonprofit schools, and public community colleges) failed to show that their graduates were able to find decent jobs, meaning the former students have annual loan payments that are more than 30 percent of their discretionary income and more than 12 percent of their total earnings. Not insignificantly, virtually all—98 percent—of the programs that do not meet that bar are for-profit schools. Not a single community college appears on the list. If schools that have been flagged by the government don’t begin to turn things around within several years, they stand to lose aid, and, in many cases, would likely shutter as a result.
Share on Facebook