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Proprietary Schools: Millions Spent to Train Students for Oversupplied Occupations

HEHS-97-104 Published: Jun 10, 1997. Publicly Released: Jun 16, 1997.
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Highlights

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO determined the extent to which Higher Education Act title IV funds finance proprietary school training in fields with insufficient job demand, focusing on: (1) title IV money spent to train proprietary school students for occupations with a surplus of trained individuals; (2) ways government-sponsored training programs use labor market information to target training funds toward fields with promising employment outcomes; and (3) the merits of using labor market information to target training funds.

Recommendations

Matter for Congressional Consideration

Matter Status Comments
The Congress should expand the Student Right-to-Know Act to require proprietary schools to report recent graduates' training-related job placement rates. The act currently requires all title IV-eligible schools to report student completion rates but not graduates' employment experiences. Such information would help prospective students understand the usefulness of recent graduates' occupational training programs.
Closed – Not Implemented
This recommendation was not addressed in the Higher Education Amendments sent to conference. The requestor does not anticipate introducing legislation time to implement the recommendation.

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Education The Secretary of Education should identify and take appropriate action to ensure that prospective proprietary school students have access to employment and earnings projections relevant to their chosen training field and local area.
Closed – Implemented
The Department of Education included provisions implementing this recommendation in a reauthorization proposal submitted to Congress. Education believes that, without legislative authority, it cannot act further to implement this recommendation.

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Topics

Direct loansEducational grantsHigher educationNoncomplianceProgram abusesProprietary schoolsStudent financial aidStudent loansVocational educationStudents