VIRGINIA CAREER COLLEGE ASSOCIATION

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1 VIRGINIA CAREER COLLEGE ASSOCIATION Virginia Career College Association Volume XVI, Issue 3 Inside this issue: VCCA SCHEV Meet Regarding Diploma Mills Transfer Committee Meets Imagine America Releases Fact Book Lending Practices Online Training Portrait of the Occupantional Student CCAB Meets 6 VCCA Conference Reminder 6 VCCA MEETS WITH SCHEV ON DIPLOMA MILLS On June 7 th a number of VCCA members and staff met with SCHEV officials regarding SCHEV s intention to propose new legislation, new regulation, or both in an effort to better protect Virginia consumers against what are commonly referred to as Diploma Mills. These entities generally offer academic degrees based primarily on a fee, not the completion of an appropriate and approved educational curriculum. VCCA is now working with SCHEV to develop recommendations designed to curtail diploma mill activity in Virginia while ensuring that no onerous and unnecessary new regulatory or statutory provisions are created that would negatively impact our sector and students. Another meeting is scheduled within the month, and VCCA will report to you the final outcome of our discussions along with the actions that SCHEV will be taking in this area. STATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSFER MEETS The State Committee on Transfer met again in March to discuss the current status of articulation and transfer agreements between Virginia s postsecondary institutions and to review current law to determine if additional legislation is needed in this area. The General Assembly has already passed legislation requiring the reporting of community college students admitted, enrolled, and graduated from the state s public and not-for-profit institutions. In addition, the Committee wants clarification from SCHEV regarding their Guidelines for Transfer document, Finally, a second Transfer Summit may be scheduled this fall to bring all interested parties together for an annual conference. VCCA has representation on this Committee (John Oldon- ECPI College of Technology) and thanks to his efforts we will continue to monitor the work of this group, and to seek ways to improve the transfer options available to students completing two-year degrees at career colleges and universities.

2 Page 2 Virginia Career College Association IMAGINE AMERICA FOUNDATION RELEASES 2007 Fact Book: A Profile of Career Colleges and Universities The Imagine America Foundation has released its biannual fact book, which compares public institutions with private two- and four-year colleges. Featuring nearly 40 pages of research and analysis, the 2007 Fact Book presents a comprehensive look at the for-profit and career college sector of higher education and provides data on enrollment, student benefits and outcomes, career college student profiles, default rates, return on investment statistics, and job opportunities for graduates. More than 2 million students attended career colleges in the academic year. While more than a quarter of dependent students come from families with incomes over $60,000, the career college sector is more likely than the non-profit sector to serve students who are independent, have income in the lowest quartile, have parents with an education below the high school level, and are racial or ethnic minorities. This research also shows: 37 percent of students at career colleges are minority, comprising a greater share than those enrolled at private not-for-profit and public institutions (19.8 percent and 24.6 percent, respectively). Career colleges represent seven of the 10 four-year institutions producing the largest number of minority graduates with Associate degrees in Compared to similar institutions in specific areas of diversity, completion and graduation rate, career colleges do better, said Bob Martin, president of the Imagine America Foundation. While this isn t a revelation for those of us in the sector, it does show and realistically so how our colleges stack up in the realm of higher education. For more information about the Imagine America Foundation s Fact Book or to request copies, please contact Bob Martin, President of IAF, at (202) , or visit

3 Virginia Career College Association Page 3 LENDING PRACTICES IN THE NEWS BIG TIME! The subject of preferred lender lists has been very much in the news lately, taking center stage in the legislative, regulatory and legal arenas of a number of states (fortunately not Virginia as yet) and in the halls of Congress. CCA, our national affiliate, has stayed on top of this issue, which has implications for every VCCA member institution. Following is a brief CCA update on where this issue may be headed. VCCA advises that you monitor this situation closely. On March 22, 2007, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced his intention to sue one private loan company, alleging deceptive practices in the revenue sharing agreements the company had with a number of universities in exchange for placement on the colleges preferred lender lists. Cuomo has sent letters to 400 institutions, including every one in New York, warning them that they should end or disclose such relationships with lenders. In Washington, Senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education Labor and Pensions Committee, and Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) have introduced legislation, called the Student Loan Sunshine Act, to prohibit private lenders from offering gifts to college employees or in-kind services to financial aid offices. Senator Kennedy might try to incorporate some of the major provisions in the Higher Education Act. His proposal would also require disclosure of the reasons for selecting lenders for the preferred list and of any special arrangements between lenders and schools. Chairman George Miller (D-CA) of the House Education and Labor Committee has also indicated he will examine the preferred lender issue as part of the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, when it comes before his Committee later this year. The Department of Education also is addressing the issue of preferred lender lists and lender inducements with respect to Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) lenders. The Department s initial concerns included 1) assuring that borrowers can use lenders not on a preferred list without delay or other impediment, 2) providing borrowers with the method and criteria the school used to decide which lenders are on the list, 3) having at least three lenders on the list, 4) not putting lenders on the list that provide financial incentives to the school or borrowers, 5) notifying borrowers that they are free to choose any lender not on the list, and 6) not assigning a first-time borrower s loan to a particular lender. Once the Department s rulemaking is completed, it will publish a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to allow all interested parties to send in their comments and suggestions. The entire process will stretch through the summer into the fall, and could be short-circuited by Congress. And while this subject is generating a great deal of attention, the outcome of all of this heat is unclear. Stay tuned!

4 Page 4 Virginia Career College Association ONLINE TRAINING FOR VCCA MEMBERS IS HERE- USE IT! In the January edition of this newsletter, VCCA announced the creation of our online training program, available to all members directly through a portal on the association s web site. VCCA has gone to some considerable effort to make this service available to our member institutions. We now want to strongly encourage that you take advantage of it! Each of our member schools understands the value of training, as that is their primary mission. But while most do an excellent job educating their students, many neglect the training of their staffs. Such employee training can be tremendously beneficial when linked with performance objectives. There is no doubt about the link between training and performance. Here are some reasons why: Trained employees are typically more efficient; Training documents and improves competency; Training facilitates discussion, which fosters better performance; Training creates value for the employee and the school; Regulatory and accreditation compliance require training. VCCA s online training center offers convenient, inexpensive, and proven training options for management, staff, and faculty at your institution. Enclosed are some information pieces on this member service. You are encouraged to check out VCCA s Online Training program further by visiting the VCCA web site ( and clicking on the VCCA Online Training button. This member service management tool is designed to increase your operational effectiveness and profitability. Take advantage of today!

5 Virginia Career College Association Page 5 PORTRAIT OF THE OCCUPATIONAL STUDENT Educators spend a lot of time talking about diverse, non-traditional students, but much of the focus involves those in traditional higher education. A recent report issued by the U.S. Education Department attempts to provide more information about the subset of college students one that is more diverse and disadvantaged than students on average that is seeking occupational training. Occupational students are defined as those seeking either an associate degree or certificate (but not a bachelor s degree) in an occupational (as opposed to academic) program. The department s analysis is based on college students who started their programs in and the occupational subbaccalaureate group is larger than any other: Distribution of New College Students by Goal, Goal Percent Occupational subbaccalaureate 36% Career baccalaureate 19% Undeclared baccalaureate 13% Undeclared subbaccalaureate 12% Academic baccalaureate 10% Academic subbaccaulareate 9% Not only were there more academic subbacalaureate students, they were more diverse. The group was predominantly female (57 percent), and had higher rates of underrepresented minority groups than other sectors do: 16 of the students are black and 9 percent are Hispanic. The average age of these students when they started their programs was 24. Some of the characteristics of these students appear to affect their identities as students. For example, 56 percent delayed their enrollment one or more years after finishing high school, and 45 percent worked while enrolled. Occupational students are more likely to think of themselves as enrolled employees than as working students, the Education Department found. Generally, students seeking certificates or associate degrees are less likely than are those seeking a four-year degree to complete their programs whether the credential they are seeking is vocational or academic. And the new study offers additional confirmation. As of 2001, 48 percent of those occupational students who entered in had earned a credential. An additional 12 percent remained enrolled in their programs. The top reasons cited by those who left their programs were: job or financial demands, family demands and moving to another city or state. In some cases, people citing these reasons did not abandon their quest for a credential but enrolled in less demanding programs.

6 Virginia Career College Association Page 6 VCCA 2007 Board of Directors PRESIDENT Mr. Steve Cotton, Vice President National College P.O. Box 6400 Roanoke, VA IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT Dr. Richard Shurtz, II, President Stratford University 7777 Leesburg Pike, Suite 100S Falls Church, VA VICE PRESIDENT Mr. Lauck Walton, Exec Director Westwood College 7611 Little River Turnpike Annandale, VA DIRECTORS Ms. Maxine Stine, Director of Ed. RSHT 9325 C Midlothian Turnpike Richmond, VA CAREER COLLEGE ADVISORY BOARD MEETS The Career College Advisory Board (CCAB) met on March 30 th at the West End campus of ECPI Technical College in Richmond. Nearly 40 representatives of private career institutions heard updates from SCHEV staff on regulatory matters. VCCA representatives presented a legislative summary of actions taken at the 2007 Virginia General Assembly. VCCA requested that SCHEV make changes in their next reprint of their brochure on private for-profit institutions. In addition, your association pushed for greater inclusion of statistical data from our sector to be reflected in SCHEV reports and clarification as to what triggers are considered before an unannounced SCHEV audit is conducted. A second meeting of the CCAB will be held in the fall of this year. MARK YOUR CALENDAR Mr. Mark Dreyfus, President ECPI College of Technology 5555 Greenwich Rd. Suite 300 Virginia Beach, VA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Mr. Mark Singer 1108 E. Main Street, Suite 1200 Richmond, VA (fax) VCCA ANNUAL CONFERENCE The 2007 VCCA Fall Conference will be held at the Richmond Marriott on September 28th. As is always the case, instructors will be offered an outstanding program designed to increase classroom-learning success. School management will hear the author of the latest book on our sector talk about her findings. In addition, CCA President Harris Miller is scheduled to address the Awards Luncheon and numerous exhibitors have already expressed an interest in participating in the annual Trade Show. You won t want to miss it and VCCA suggests you inform your faculty and key administrative staff now of the date.