Corinthian Colleges, Inc. Reminds Washington: 'Our Graduates' Careers Count!'

WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Corinthian Colleges, Inc. has launched a major outreach effort to spotlight the "unintended consequences" of a proposed U.S. Department of Education regulation that would make instructional programs serving up to one million college students ineligible for federal student loans and eliminate up to 100,000 jobs.

An advertising campaign that began this weekend in ten major American newspapers focuses attention on the Education Department's proposed "gainful employment" regulation. According to an independent study by the consulting firm The Parthenon Group, the regulation would have far-reaching educational and economic consequences not anticipated by the Department.  The ads direct the reader to www.mycareercounts.org for more information.

"The 'gainful employment' regulation is supposed to protect students, but in reality it would cut off hundreds of thousands of students from promising careers that make America work," said Peter Waller, Corinthian Chief Executive Officer.  "These careers include essential occupations such as nurses, medical assistants, auto mechanics, and electrical and plumbing technicians.  We are urging the Department to put the brakes on this proposal before its unintended consequences take a human toll.

"As currently written, this regulation would close the door to future career training for many people who need it urgently, particularly low-income and minority students.  And at a time when our economy is struggling and unemployment is high, the regulation would eliminate jobs instead of creating them.  Clearly, this is the wrong rule at the wrong time."

The advertisements and website feature three of the hundreds of thousands of students who have graduated from private-sector colleges and gotten better jobs as a result.  The website and ads also focus on research recently completed by Parthenon, which found that the proposed "gainful employment" rule would have a much more serious impact than the Education Department has estimated.  The study was sponsored by Corinthian Colleges.

Parthenon, which consults with federal and state education agencies as well as private businesses, found that college instructional programs serving about one million college students would become ineligible for federal student loans and about 400,000 would likely drop out of college as a result.  Overall, the regulation would cost American taxpayers about $5 billion a year in lost revenues and additional expenses.

The proposed "gainful employment" rule would eliminate instructional programs that serve 32% of all students at private-sector colleges – more than three times the Education Department's estimate of 9.6 percent.  Independent studies have shown that private-sector college graduates increase their income by about 54 percent, or an average of $7,900 per year.

"We undertook this campaign because Washington needs to see the real graduates and people behind the numbers," Waller said.  "Schools like ours are succeeding in putting America back to work.  Many traditional colleges and schools are under-funded, over-crowded and thus not accessible to our students."  

The "My Career Counts!" campaign that began this weekend included ads in The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune,  The San Francisco Chronicle, The San Jose Mercury News, The Contra Costa Times, The Miami Herald, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, The Dallas Morning News, The Seattle Times and The New Jersey Star-Ledger.

The website www.MyCareerCounts.org  provides additional information on the regulation and its potential impact.  The website and Twitter handle @MyCareerCounts will offer updated information, stories from graduates and comments from other people and groups who are concerned about the proposed regulation.

SOURCE Corinthian Colleges, Inc.