Regulation of career colleges likely expire, then change
Press-Enterprise 3/13/07
The approval process took months, and required Johnson to send a bunch of documents, including The Fab School's financial statements and course outlines, to Sacramento. But the hassles were worth it, Johnson says now, because state oversight sets him apart from unscrupulous "fly-by-night schools."
The question of how California should regulate its 1,500 for-profit colleges -- which give students accelerated and hands-on training in a number of careers from dental assistants to casino dealers to cosmetologists -- is being debated among lawmakers, schools and consumer advocates. That's because the regulatory agency, the Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education, and the law that governs it, are set to expire June 30.
Since the late 1980s, lawmakers have seen the need for oversight of for-profit postsecondary institutions to stem the number of diploma mills. But over the years, the regulatory process has been criticized for being inefficient and ineffectual. Last year, Gov. Schwarzenegger agreed and said "comprehensive reforms" were needed. He vetoed a bill that would have extended the life of the bureau for a year.
Lawmakers are working on changes that would include opening a successor agency Jan. 1, 2008. The law doesn't allow the state to create a new institution sooner.
There is disagreement over how the regulatory system should be overhauled.
Consumer advocates say the state needs to impose and enforce tougher laws to go after fraudulent schools that misrepresent their graduation and job-placement rates.
Officials with the California Association of Private Postsecondary Schools say they care about protecting students, but laws governing the schools are confusing and filled with tedious requirements that open schools to frivolous lawsuits if they don't comply.
Meanwhile, lawmakers are working on a bill to address practical problems posed by the bureau's closure, such as how student complaints against schools will be handled and whether students will be allowed to take certain professional licensing examinations given that some licensing boards require students come from state-approved schools.
Some Inland school owners, including Johnson, worry that the lack of oversight -- for at least the six months before a successor agency can be created -- could lead to a proliferation of diploma mills that erodes the credibility of other schools.
"What I worry about is tainting the name of vocational education," Johnson said.
He said he's afraid regulations overseeing vocational schools will become so easy that "monkeys could do it."
History of Problems
For-profit postsecondary schools currently enroll about 400,000 students, about the same number of students in the Cal State University system.
Oversight of the schools has undergone many changes over the years.
In the 1980s, California was known as the "diploma mill capital of the world," prompting legislators to create an oversight agency, the Council for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education, according to a 2005 independent consultant's report that looked at the history of the state's regulation of vocational schools.
While the independent council was lauded for improving the image of career colleges in the state, many of the schools lobbied to eliminate the agency because of high licensing fees and difficulties in appealing decisions, according to the newspaper The Chronicle of Higher Education.
As a result, legislators in 1997 put the agency under the control of the Department of Consumer Affairs and renamed it the Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education, the agency that exists today.
But over the years, state audits and reviews have concluded that the bureau is understaffed; issues licenses without the proper reviews; does not respond to complaints in a timely fashion; and is slow to respond to students' tuition recovery claims.
"You go around in circles with these people. It's easier to open up a nuclear reactor," said David Barnicoat, director of the Mojave Barber College in Victorville.
"We can do just fine governing ourselves," he said.
The 2005 consultant's report concluded that many reviews of school applications and on-site inspections were "superficial" and that penalties lacked teeth because the bureau could not issue fines of more than $2,500 or issue formal warning notices.
Independent Board Favored
A working group -- consisting of representatives from the governor's and attorney general's offices, legislative analysts and policy committee members -- is working on a bill to address the problems. Schools and consumer advocates are advising the group.
Robert Johnson, executive director of the California Association of Private Postsecondary Schools, said perceptions that his association wants to deregulate the industry are false. He said he just wants to remove the bureaucratic red tape that makes schools vulnerable to frivolous lawsuits. For instance, the law regulates the font sizes schools must use when writing their student contracts.
"Make punishment dependent on harm to the student," he said.
Consumer advocates are skeptical. Elena Ackel, a lawyer with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, said she is concerned that the schools will persuade lawmakers to water down regulations.
Ackel, who has represented students in lawsuits against career colleges, said she routinely hears complaints that schools did not deliver quality instruction or misrepresented what starting salaries would be upon graduation.
Johnson said the majority of schools are delivering a quality education.
To date, members of the working group, working with Sen. Don Perata, D-Oakland, have reached consensus on a few issues. They agree that a successor agency should be an independent board, and that enforcement should be handled jointly with the attorney general's office and that complaints should be resolved quickly.
Practical Concerns
Meanwhile, the closure of the bureau would pose immediate practical concerns, such as what will happen to students waiting to recover tuition or who are in the midst of litigation, Ackel said.
Another question is whether some students will be eligible to take professional licensing exams. Some licensing boards, including those that license the state's marriage family therapists, cosmetologists and court reporters are governed by statutes that say license applicants must come from bureau-approved schools.
Lawmakers are scrambling to write legislation to address those concerns.
Any pending matters before the bureau, such as complaints against a school, would remain pending after the bureau's closure July 1 until a new agency opens Jan. 1, according to a bill sponsored by Assemblyman Paul Cook, R-Yucca Valley. Also, any school that is approved before July 1 would be deemed approved through to the opening of a new agency.
The U.S. Department of Education has said that the bureau's closure will not affect students' abilities to collect financial aid.
Inland school officials said they hope the credibility of vocational schools isn't eroded by the lack of oversight.
"For us, it's important to have bureau certification," said Steve Perales, director of admissions at the American Sports University in San Bernardino, which offers a degree in sports education. "Without that we don't have anything to verify that we have gone through any process that protects students and consumers. Right now, it's our stamp of approval."