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Career college flexibility helps vets achieve goals
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Why does Jerome Kohlberg choose Veterans Day to propose limiting educational choice for veterans ("Veterans Fight Back," Nov. 12 Perspectives)? His suggestions would turn back the clock and actually hurt vets.
Changing the 90/10 rule, which requires for-profit colleges to obtain no more than 90 percent of their revenues from federal student aid, may actually force schools to stop enrolling veterans so they can meet the arbitrary numbers set by the rule. Is this how we want to repay the service of our veterans?
The fact is, veterans disproportionately benefit from career colleges and schools because they provide more flexibility for those seeking to balance family, work and school commitments. In fact, career schools, like Rosedale and many others, have been deemed "military friendly" by GI Jobs magazine.
And the regulatory environment for career schools in Pennsylvania is quite stringent. Our schools are reviewed by the Pennsylvania Department of Education and their accrediting agencies. Our programs are also approved by the federal Department of Education. Our graduation and placement rates are held to a high standard. This is in addition to the requirements of the federal Department of Education. If our schools do not meet the stringent standards here, they cannot stay open. Therefore, the kinds of abuses that Mr. Kohlberg mentions don't often occur in Pennsylvania.
Mr. Kohlberg is right to focus on outcomes, however. Veterans would be better served by doing away with the 90/10 rule altogether and a return to a focus on training veterans and others for jobs instead of coming up with rules that for many prevent that.
DENNIS WILKE
President
Rosedale Technical Institute
Kennedy
First Published November 23, 2012 12:00 am
