Career Colleges have been called into question by the policy community regarding the quality of data used to estimate the value of student outcome.  To restore credibility, ACICS has introduced an improved placement verification and quality assurance process.   The largest fundamental change is member institutions will be required to record and maintain placement information and meta-data beyond what is required in the ACICS Campus Accountability Report.

Key ACICS Council Changes to Implement:

• Maintain sufficient supporting data for placement verification. This information must be submitted to ACICS upon request

• On a recurring basis, maintain supporting documentation to provide to an ACICS visit team, state or federal agency; should minimally include the following:
  • Placement by Title – the student’s job title, the published list of titles for which the program prepares students, and a list of the skills required by the graduate’s job.
  • Placement by Skills – a description of the skills taught in the program and a list of the skills required by graduate’s job.
  • Placement by Benefits – Student attestations are required only for students whose placements are based on “the benefit as a catalyst in obtaining or maintaining the position.”

In addition, ACICS has modified the visit team process to be more robust to verify files of graduates who are classified as placed or unavailable for placement.  IntegriShield can help your institution manage the new robust files with:

• Written documentation such as Verification of Employment form, Waiver of Placement etc…
• Recorded MP3 audio of all phone calls
• Email correspondence and detailed notes about each graduate

Contact IntegriShield (opens in a new window) for more information on how we can help with these new changes.  Call us at 888-547-7110 or send us an e-mail at sales@integrishield.com.

Institutions are under strict scrutiny surrounding their online advertising efforts. But, it’s also imperative for the institution’s website to be in compliance with the standards and regulations set forth by the Department of Education (DOE), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), your accrediting body and industry standards. Below is a checklist of points to consider when reviewing the information provided on your website.

Compliant Website Checklist:

Accreditation

• Visibility of accreditation statement
• Representation of accreditation – full and complete accreditation information – acronyms and banned terms omitted
• Easily navigable – at least within one click of the homepage

Admissions

• Provide all required criteria expected to be completed prior to enrollment
• Include all educational requirements
• Contact information provided for prospective students

Career Services

• Detailed and clear explanation of offerings that the Career Services department provides
• No job placement guarantees
• Omission of banned terms, such as “career placement”

Gainful Employment Disclosures

• Clear presence of disclosure information
• Disclosure information is in the required Gainful Employment Disclosure Template developed by the DOE

Financial Aid

• Qualification rules
• How applicants can learn about qualifying
• Financial aid eligibility disclaimer present

Program Descriptions

• Timeframe for completion listed correctly
• Program length disclaimer

Program Listings

• Listings are accurate and approved by the DOE
• Acceptable states for admissions
• Citations provided for statistics listed on the page

TCPA Requirements

• Consent language present on lead form
• Language must include all components within the FCC definition

Testimonials

• Must be actual statements
• Some accreditors do not allow institutions to use testimonials from current students on their website

Stay tuned for our next webinar where we’ll cover this topic in more depth! Get early access to webinar information.  (opens in a new window)

In America, unemployment is twice as high for those with high school diplomas versus a 4 year college graduate. However, that doesn’t mean high school graduates need to spend the time or money on a 4-year school.

Millions of trade industry jobs are open and ready for those with specific job skills training, some even paying more than the average 4 year college graduate’s starting salary. Those from the baby boom era are coming close to retirement and more of these trade jobs will be available for millennials. There are around 600,000 electrician positions today and half of these will become available within 10 years. Baby boomers will be retiring from trades and America will need more young people trained to take over these positions. However, not enough young people will have the opportunity to gain the proper training due to the removal of vocational programs in high schools.

Thankfully, the private-sector colleges and universities are available to make up for the lack of encouragement high school students are receiving. Private-sector schools are a necessity to educate those in the trades industry since the skills that students learn are job specific and are usually taught by individuals that have worked in the field.

Private-sector schools have strengths over the typical 4-year state school. The faculty members are dedicated to watching their students succeed, often taking extra measures such as tutoring and one-on-one learning. Private-sector schools are focused on helping place graduates in jobs specific to the training they received. Small class sizes and hands-on learning are additional benefits to a student’s experience.

For millennials looking for an alternative to the expense and time of a 4-year state school, take a look into the trades industry. There are many opportunities to gain the job specific training needed and succeed in a fast paced industry.

For more information on the economic impact of trade jobs visit the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities’ Knowledge Center.

October 30th marked the release of the final version of The Education Department’s “Gainful Employment” rule. The long awaited ruling has been a topic of much discussion and is still being contested by the Association of Private Sector College and Universities (APSCU).

While the debate ensues, here are some takeaways from the ruling:

1. Career programs are no longer accountable for their cohort default rates. The cohort default rate represents the percentage of borrowers defaulting on their student loans.

2. Instead, career programs will be weighed only for their graduates’ debt-to-earnings ratios. The debt-to-earnings ratio measures the ability of a borrower to manage payments and repay debts based on their income.

3. The Education Department expects nearly 1,400 programs to fail the rule in the first year. Programs that fail the test on multiple reviews will not be able to award federal aid to students.

The For-Profit college sector has already taken action against the Education Department. APSCU officially filed suit against the Department’s Gainful Employment ruling last week. The suit asks that the United States District Court declare the regulation unlawful and set aside the regulation.

A briefing schedule is expected to be set in the next few months.