So says associate professor Kevin Kinser at the State University of New York-Albany. For-profit schools have been getting a bad rap for the last few years because of some questionable recruitment practices, but they educate about 10% of all graduates and are an important part of the educational network.
The real problem with them the professor says is that too few of their students pay back their government loans. While about 90% of for-profit undergraduates use federal loans to pay tuition … they accumulate too much debt, can’t pay it back, and leave the government with overdue loans.
There’s a long history of success with the education for-profits provide. Compared with non profit learning institutions they enroll more students, outperform state colleges on graduating minorities, and are more accessible to older students. They award about 1 in 5 associate degrees and 1 in 10 master’s degrees.
The sector is expected to add 1 million more new students next year. 1 in 3 will pay off the principal on their loans in the next 4 years and 1 in 5 for-profit students will default in the next 3 years.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt who is a global educator and learning company and the world’s largest provider of educational materials for pre K-12 schooling is setting up a fund to promote more innovation in educating techniques.
Over the next 3 years they will spend up to $300 million to develop innovative learning centers in the United States and Ireland.
Another $100 million will be spent as incubator money to support technology for greater student achievement.
Company CEO Barry O’Callaghan said Monday “The HMH Innovation Fund is a first for our industry, providing the capital to identify and incubate the next generation of innovation in education. We are excited about the opportunity to share in developing new solutions for teachers, students, administrators and parents”.
The Fund’s aim is to rapidly inject capital into worthwhile projects and expedite their development quickly to fulfill market requirements. Investments may vary from products or services for teachers and students, to enhancement type products … and consumer focused education products that HMH can deliver through its educational businesses.
On Thursday the Nebraska State Board Of Education passed a resolution asking Gov. Dave Heineman and his fellow lawmakers to oppose unfunded federal mandates.
Although not stated directly by the board, they think there is a risk that the new Medicaid bill passed by the Obama administration will cost a lot more than projected and that money will be taken away from the education budget to help pay for it.
Previously on Wednesday the board had a lively debate on whether they should specifically finger the new Medicaid plan in their resoultion as their target or instead take a less political stance and express their concerns over Washington springing unfunded mandates onto the state.
Board member Joe Higgins had previously stated about how uncomfortable he was with the board seemingly saying you can either have education or you can have medical insurance … but you can’t have both. His feeling was that even if it meant a tax increase to Nebraska residents that their needs would be looked after.
The debate was started by the governor after a state-commissioned study said that Medicaid costs would increase by hundreds of millions of dollars and another study said no, it would cost less. He then requested that state education groups either support him in his efforts to repeal the new federal health reform law or he would assume their tacitly support for a reduction in education funding.
Gov.Heineman opposes the federal law and Nebraska is amongst the 20 states fighting it in court. Nebraska nonetheless will have to implement it unless it is struck down by the courts.
