Stand with low-income students

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The for-profit college industry is trying to kill regulation that would hold it accountable to low-income students and taxpayers. A new Education Department rule would prevent these schools from promising opportunity while saddling people with overwhelming debt.

Students at for-profit schools make up just 10% of everyone pursuing higher education but account for more than 40% of all student loan defaults. Students shouldn’t be able to use federal financial aid to attend programs that don’t help them land jobs.

Please join us in calling on the Department of Education and members of Congress to support affordable education that improves students’ life chances.

(Here is the text of the petitions we’ll present to Education Secretary Arne Duncan and members of Congress, unless you create your own statement.)

Click here to see the letter to members of Congress

Dear Secretary Duncan,

I’m writing to encourage you to issue a strong gainful employment rule that works to protect students from overpriced higher education programs that saddle them with debt while doing little to make them employable.

The default rate at for-profit colleges is alarming. Students at for-profit colleges make up just 10% of everyone pursuing higher education but account for more than 40% of all student loan defaults. I applaud your efforts to make sure that educational loans are a manageable percentage of students’ total income and that a sizable segment of a program’s students are paying off their loans.

I know the for-profit college industry’s lobbyists have pressured you and your colleagues, saying that students’ impoverished backgrounds and inability to manage their finances are to blame. I’m especially concerned that some members of the Congressional Black Caucus are making these arguments. As you know, the real problem with for-profit programs is that they charge too much, lure students into taking on huge amounts of debt, and don’t prepare them for jobs that would allow them to pay off that debt.

Please stand strong in your conviction to restrict the access questionable higher education programs have to federal student loans and grants.

Thank you,

[Your name]

Click here to see the letter to Secretary Duncan

Dear Representatives and Senators,

I have written Education Secretary Arne Duncan urging him to follow through on his plan to issue a strong gainful employment rule that works to protect students from overpriced higher education programs that saddle them with debt while doing little to make them employable. Once the new regulation is made public, I urge you to support it rather than bowing to pressure from the for-profit college industry’s lobbyists.

Students at for-profit higher ed institutions make up just 10% of everyone pursuing higher education but account for more than 40% of all student loan defaults.

I know that lobbyists for that industry have encouraged you to oppose strong regulation. They argue that students’ impoverished backgrounds and inability to manage their finances are to blame, not programs’ own predatory practices. I’m especially concerned that some members of the Congressional Black Caucus have echoed these industry claims. In fact, the the real problem is with for-profit programs that charge too much, lure students into taking on huge amounts of debt, and don't prepare them for jobs that would allow them to pay off that debt.

Low-income students will be harmed if you attempt to obstruct or weaken a strong rule by attempting to pass legislation to negate it, or by refusing to fund the Education Department’s ability to enforce it. Please support Secretary Duncan’s efforts to restrict the access questionable higher education programs have to federal student loans and grants.

Thank you,

[Your name]

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