Consumer and minority groups urge tougher rule on for-profit colleges

A broad coalition of student, consumer and minority groups on Wednesday exhorted President Obama to issue a "strong and enforceable" rule aimed at ensuring that vocational programs prepare their students for "gainful employment."

The letter from 38 groups cites a series of practices in which "some" career education programs have deceptively recruited students, inflated and falsely reported job placement statistics, and buried students in debt, and urges the administration not to back away from its tough but "common sense" regulation. "We will support you every step of the way," they write, a nod to the intense lobbying in which opponents of the rule have engaged.

The signatories to the letter include higher education associations like the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers and the Student Senate for California Community Colleges, unions like the American Federation of Teachers and the American Association of University Professors, and consumer groups such as the National Consumer Law Center and Public Citizen. But it may be most notable for the large number of minority advocacy groups represented, since advocates for for-profit colleges have lined up numerous minority lawmakers and business groups to laud the institutions' success in educating black and Latino students. Signers of Wednesday's letter include the League of United Latin American Citizens, the NAACP, and the National Council of La Raza.

The letter is linked here.