Calls To Withdraw "Gainful Employment" Regulation
WASHINGTON - Black Florida Congressman Alcee L. Hastings, Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline, Congressman Robert Andrews (D-NJ) and a group 113 Members of Congress sent the following bipartisan letter to President Obama requesting that the Department of Education (DOE) withdraw its proposed “gainful employment” regulation. This regulation would place arbitrary restrictions on private-sector colleges and universities that would disproportionately affect the most disadvantaged students. The House of Representatives passed a bipartisan amendment to H.R. 1, the Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act of 2011, by a vote of 289-136, which would have blocked the implementation of this regulation. Furthermore, the letter expresses disappointment that this language was not included in the final legislation, which appropriated funds through the end of Fiscal Year 2011. It also urges the administration to withdraw this regulation and work with Congress to enact meaningful reforms to our nation’s higher education system that preserve access to postsecondary education and expand career choices for all Americans. The letter appears below:
The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President,
We write to express our disappointment that language was not included in the final, compromise funding measure for fiscal year 2011 prohibiting the Department of Education from implementing its misguided regulation defining “gainful employment.”
In your first State of the Union, you proclaimed the United States would once again lead the world in college graduates by 2020. However, contrary to this objective, the Department’s arbitrary proposed rules on private sector colleges and universities will disproportionately affect the most disadvantaged of students and limit access to one of the few sectors of higher education that continually evolves to meet workforce needs.
While the regulations attempt to address real problems, they miss the target. Instead, the implementation of these new rules will be so burdensome and the projected impact so broad that many reputable schools, particularly those serving the most at-risk students, will be adversely impacted. These rules will limit student access to higher education while failing to effectively address problem schools and rising student debt.
Today, over 3 million students attend career colleges. Seventy-six percent of these students live independently, without parental support. Sixty-three percent are 24 years old or older. Fifty-four percent delayed postsecondary education after high school. Forty-seven percent have dependent children, and almost one-third of these students are single parents. The Department’s suggested approach will harm these nontraditional and lower-income students who have no choice but to rely on student loans to pursue a postsecondary education and need the flexibility career colleges provide.
Given the significant impact of this proposed rule, the only responsible course of action is for the Department to completely withdraw this regulation and work with Congress to develop policies that truly protect taxpayer funds and measure and improve educational quality across all sectors of higher education.
The House of Representatives passed by a wide, bipartisan vote of 289 to136 an amendment to H.R. 1, the Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act of 2011, which would have done just that. Though we are disappointed this language was not included in the final legislation, we hope that as we move forward, you will encourage the Department to jettison its current rule and work with us to enact meaningful reforms to our higher education system that preserve access to postsecondary education and expand career choices for all Americans.
Sincerely,
Alcee L. Hastings
Member of Congress
John Kline
Member of Congress
Robert E. Andrews
Member of Congress
Virginia Foxx
Member of Congress
Donald M. Payne
Member of Congress
Carolyn McCarthy
Member of Congress
Sandy Adams
Member of Congress
Todd Akin
Member of Congress
Jason Altmire
Member of Congress
Steve Austria
Member of Congress
Michele Bachmann
Member of Congress
Spencer Bachus
Member of Congress
Lou Barletta
Member of Congress
John Barrow
Member of Congress
Roscoe Bartlett
Member of Congress
Shelley Berkley
Member of Congress
Judy Biggert
Member of Congress
Brian P. Bilbray
Member of Congress
Gus Bilirakis
Member of Congress
Rob Bishop
Member of Congress
Marsha Blackburn
Member of Congress
Jo Bonner
Member of Congress
Vern Buchanan
Member of Congress
Larry Buchson
Member of Congress
Dan Burton
Member of Congress
Francisco “Quico” Canseco
Member of Congress
André Carson
Member of Congress
John Carter
Member of Congress
Jason Chaffetz
Member of Congress
Mike Conaway
Member of Congress
Chip Cravaack
Member of Congress
Ander Crenshaw
Member of Congress
Mark Critz
Member of Congress
Henry Cuellar
Member of Congress
Scott DesJarlais
Member of Congress
Ted Deutch
Member of Congress
Mario Diaz-Balart
Member of Congress
Mike Doyle
Member of Congress
Elliot L. Engel
Member of Congress
Blake Farenthold
Member of Congress
Stephen Fincher
Member of Congress
Mike Fitzpatrick
Member of Congress
Jeff Flake
Member of Congress
Trent Franks
Member of Congress
Jim Gerlach
Member of Congress
Bob Goodlatte
Member of Congress
Kay Granger
Member of Congress
Tim Griffin
Member of Congress
Brett Guthrie
Member of Congress
Richard Hanna
Member of Congress
Dean Heller
Member of Congress
Jeb Hensarling
Member of Congress
Tim Holden
Member of Congress
Randy Hultgren
Member of Congress
Duncan Hunter
Member of Congress
Steve Israel
Member of Congress
Lynn Jenkins
Member of Congress
Bill Johnson
Member of Congress
Mike Kelly
Member of Congress
Doug Lamborn
Member of Congress
Steven C. Latourette
Member of Congress
Don Manzullo
Member of Congress
Tom Marino
Member of Congress
Jim Matheson
Member of Congress
Michael McCaul
Member of Congress
Tom McClintock
