The headline a few weeks ago (Thursday 10/13) was intriguing (especially as I am in the Finance class.) It read:
180 Private Colleges Fail Education Dept.'s Latest Financial-Responsibility Test
This is the first paragraph:
"A total of 150 private nonprofit colleges failed the U.S. Department of Education's most recent financial-responsibility test, which covers the 2010 fiscal year, according to data released by the department on Wednesday. More than half of them scored so low that they will be required to post letters of credit to remain eligible to participate in the federal student-aid programs."Most interestingly is the interactive graph provided: http://chronicle.com/article/Interactive-Chart-/129353/
As I looked through the results, I immediately when to look for Metro State (but them I realized its a private school list.) and then I wondered how these colleges came to be at this financial state. Some have previous years where scores are the same showing they may have always had financial issues. However, some schools three years ago had incredibly high scores and have seen changes potentially because of the changes to the economy.
We don't have the best financial responsibility at Metro State either when it comes to repayment of loans and financial aid.
While the chart and article are interesting, I would encourage you to read the comments under the chart. Numerous comments talk about making these financial low performing schools close. Others are suggesting a government take over of these schools. Others argue for private education and some talk about for-profit vs. not-for-profit.
The other thing this list makes me think more about is Gainful Employment. Are these the schools "Gainful Employment" is trying to target? And if so, are there other measures we need to be taking as well?
What are your reactions to seeing this list of schools? What do you think about the comments made? Do you agree, disagree?
I noticed that there were both for profit and non-profit private institutions on the list. I am a firm believer in providing a variety of schools for the population. Although I am a product of state institutions, having worked at private institutions, there is some value they provide that state college/universities will fail time and time again to meet. It does sound like there is a need for the privates to get some financial savvy-ness on. I was disappointed in reading this as some boards for private institutions can has some heavy hitters as far as business backed members-often some who not only have money, but know how to budget and run a business. I would be interested in looking more at each of the EY reports from each institution and seeing if there are commonalities. Obviously there are some things going on if 150 private institutions are on the list.
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