Student protection vital

Bakersfield Californian 1/25/07

It's a student's worst nightmare: No financial aid; their school has closed; they are stuck with non-transferable units and credits.

That's the situation with some for-profit colleges in California.

The Bureau of Private Post-secondary and Vocational Education -- part of the California Department of Consumer Affairs -- is supposed to oversee the operation of for-profit colleges in order to protect students from fraud and employers from having ill-prepared workers.

But funding and staffing of the bureau has been so pathetic that it may have to close.

Without the bureau, students will not be eligible for federal financial aid because the federal government requires states to provide oversight of for-profit colleges.

Without such oversight students attending for-profit schools will not be able to receive certificates after completing the required course work for graduation.

A state bureau must exist in order to better regulate certificates that have been earned and which are usually in such specialized areas as court reporting and marriage counseling.

Students are being left with debt, no degree and no jobs. Students should not be left out in the cold because policymakers are not meeting their responsibilities.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's recent response appears to be too little and too late. Unless the problem is solved soon, the bureau is expected to close on July 1.

Schwarzenegger recognized that the bureau was having problems but did not want to extend it for 18 more months. The governor stated the program is not working because of the "flaws in the statutes that govern the program."

New leadership is needed to form a bureau to oversee the schools. This bureau should not make false promises about job placement as it is often doing now.