College Shorts

US Senate examines for-profit college practices

For-profit colleges have recently taken a huge hit in public perception after being exposed in U.S. Senate hearings as falsely inflating their post-college employment statistics.

An employee at Education Management Corp.’s Art Institutes testified on Sept. 30 that she was told to manipulate data to inflate statistics regarding graduates who were “gainfully employed” in their area of training. According to said employee, workers at EMC’s Art Institutes were told to include jobs as “waiters, payroll clerks, and gas station attendants” as ‘employed’ graduates in areas of training such as graphic design and residential planning.

At the hearing, Democratic Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa disclosed a report demonstrating that federal aid accounted for between 85 and 93 percent of the revenues at the schools. Harkin went so far as to say that for-profit colleges have made the federal government “their free money spigot.” He promised legislative changes regarding for-profit schools within the next year.

— The Huffington Post

California passes bill to protect student athletes

This past Thursday, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law a measure which will require university-level athletics coaches who recruit in California to disclose certain information to athletes and their families.
The bill, known as the Student-Athletes’ Right to Know Act, will require coaches to disclose, among other information, institutional and NCAA policies surrounding medical expenses, scholarship renewals and athlete transfers.
“This law is a milestone in college athletes’ struggle to secure basic protections,” said Ramogi Huma, president of the advocacy group the National College Players Association. “This is only the beginning. We will take this fight to other states next year.”
The new act’s supporters say it will help remove some of the obscurities and uncertainties surrounding the acceptance of an athletics scholarship for families for whom this is often a difficult decision. They also maintain it will also hold universities accountable for promises their coaches make.

— The Chronicle of Higher Education

Sarah Lawrence named most expensive college

In Forbes magazine’s recent ranking system, which they released during the summer, Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, N.Y., was named the most expensive college in the U.S.

Sarah Lawrence, with an annual comprehensive fee of $54,854, according to Forbes, beat out No. 2- and No. 3-ranked contenders Georgetown University and the University of Chicago, respectively, for the top spot.

In the Forbes ranking, Middlebury came in seventh, after those three colleges as well as Connecticut College, George Washington University and Washington University in St. Louis.

The ranking system was compiled using a new set of metrics, which included more than 10 factors, “objectively determined,” according to Forbes.

— The Huffington Post