CECU: Career Education Addresses Shortage of Physical Therapy Assistants

February 3, 2017 - Washington, DC - This month the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that 7.6 million Americans are unemployed, while at the same time 5.5 million jobs remain unfilled in America. This gap in labor exists because employers demand job-ready employees and millions of prospective employees are simply not able to bridge the skills gap without appropriate career education and training. One such career is the expected shortage of physical therapist assistants where 51,400 additional professionals are needed by 2024. 

 

This is projected to be a very high-growth profession: the BLS estimates a much faster than average growth rate of 40% over the next decade. This is likely due in large part to health concerns affecting the aging population of baby-boomers, reports BLS. The larger population as well is expected to seek out physical therapy services, both due to activity-related injuries and diseases such as obesity, a disease affecting 36.5% of U.S. adults according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Career Education Colleges and Universities (CECU)’s Campaign to Create 5 Million Career Professionals, supported by research from the U.S. Department of Education’s IPEDS database, shows the impact postsecondary career education colleges and universities have in providing trained physical therapist assistants. From 2011-2015, the sector graduated 7,283 students with the academic credentials needed for a career as a physical therapist assistant, and is projected to produce more than 25,000 graduates in the next decade – approximately one-half of those needed.

Physical therapist assistants work with patients under the direction of a physical therapist. Physical therapist assistants administer various treatments and exercises to help alleviate patients’ symptoms, and report on the progress of patients to the physical therapist.  BLS shows a high median annual salary of about $55,000 for physical therapist assistants, higher than both the median salary for healthcare support occupations and the median salary for all occupations.

“Physical therapist assistants are a crucial part of delivering quality care to patients and helping both adults and children recover from injuries or disease,” said Stephen South, president of South College. “By studying to become a physical therapist assistant, students are preparing for a rewarding career working to improve people's lives.”

“The projections show that this is an excellent time to prepare for and enter the field of physical therapy. Professionals in this field earn good wages and have stable jobs,” said Steve Gunderson, president and CEO of CECU. “Our institutions provide well-trained professionals to fill the rapidly increasing demand.”

About Shortage of Skills
Each month CECU will profile America’s “Shortage of Skills” (SOS) in one key industry. We will examine industries that are critical to America’s economic advancement and explain how a well-educated and well-trained workforce can address these issues. See previous SOS releases here.
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About Career Education Colleges and Universities (CECU)
Career Education Colleges and Universities (CECU) is a membership organization of accredited institutions of higher education that provide postsecondary education with a career focus. CECU’s work supports thousands of campuses that education millions of students.  

Direct link to article: http://www.career.org/news/career-education-addresses-shortage-of-physical-therapy-assistants

Inside Higher Ed: 200 Colleges to Appeal Gainful Employment Ratings

By:Andrew Kreighbaum

February 1, 2017

 

More than 200 colleges have given the U.S. Department of Education notice that they will appeal gainful employment ratings that found their programs to be failing or close to failing. The colleges filed a required notice of intent to appeal within 14 days of the release of ratings for 536 individual programs, according to data posted by the Office of Federal Student Aid Monday.

Institutions appearing on the list include Vatterott College, Kaplan University and Full Sail University.

Ratings released by the department last month showed that nearly a tenth of vocational programs evaluated -- mostly at for-profit institutions -- failed to meet new criteria measuring whether graduates were able to repay their student loan debt. That puts those programs at risk of being cut off from access to Title IV federal aid.

The gainful employment rule was heavily criticized by Republicans in Congress, and GOP leaders have listed it among a number of Obama administration regulations they plan to eliminate or scale back.

Direct link to article: https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2017/02/01/200-colleges-appeal-gainful-employment-ratings

The Washington Post: University of Phoenix sale clears a crucial hurdle

January 24, 2017

By Danielle Douglas-Gabriel

The Higher Learning Commission, a college accreditation agency, has cleared the way for the $1.1 billion sale of Apollo Education Group, owner of the University of Phoenix, Western International University and College for Financial Planning, to a group of investors.

[University of Phoenix parent company to go private] 

 

The commission notified Apollo on Monday that it voted in favor of an application filed by the for-profit colleges to ensure they remain accredited after investors assume control of the parent company, according to a regulatory filing. All three institutions must submit quarterly reports to the commission detailing such things as enrollment, quarterly financials and student retention rates.
“With the receipt of this approval, we have obtained all educational regulatory approvals required,” Apollo said in the regulatory filing. The company anticipates completing the deal in February, subject to satisfying all other closing conditions.

The purchase of one of the largest for-profit education companies has been met with criticism because of the involvement of Vistria Group, a private equity firm run by former president Barack Obama’s friend Marty Nesbitt and former deputy education secretary Tony Miller. Vistria is among a consortium of investors bidding to take the publicly traded Apollo private, but its ties to the Obama administration sparked controversy over the Education Department’s objectivity in approving the deal.

[Education Department places hefty conditions on University of Phoenix sale] 

 

The Obama administration made holding for-profit colleges accountable for poor student outcomes and abusive practices a cornerstone of its higher education policy. Phoenix, like other for-profit schools, has been battered by government investigations, heightened federal regulation and poor enrollment.

In December, the Education Department sent the presidents of Phoenix and Western a litany of conditions that must be met by the new owners for the schools to remain in the federal student aid program. Chief among them is a request that investors provide a letter of credit from a bank assuring the availability of as much as $385 million, roughly 25 percent of the federal loans and grants the schools receive. The letter is meant to protect students and taxpayers if the school is unable to cover federal student-aid liabilities.

Education officials also said the schools will not be allowed to add any new programs, must cap enrollment levels, submit projected cash flow statements, produce monthly student rosters, alert the department to any investigations and commit to a recruitment standard, among other things. Many of the requests would essentially place the same demands on the soon-to-be private company as a publicly traded outfit.

In a statement, the Higher Learning Commission said its board approved the application with the conditions imposed by the Education Department in mind. The commission is also requiring each school to host a peer review visit within six months of the transaction closing.

Almost a year has passed since Apollo first announced that a group of investors, including funds affiliated with Apollo Group Management and Najafi Cos., were offering $9.50 a share in cash for the outstanding shares of the company. The group upped the acquisition price to $10 per share in May, which represents a 52 percent premium over Apollo’s closing price on Jan. 8, 2016, when the board of directors said it was considering its options.

The deal has been blessed by Apollo’s board and shareholders. Once the transaction is completed, Miller, chief operating officer of Vistria, will become chairman of the Apollo board. He served as deputy secretary at the Department of Education from 2009 to 2013.

Direct link to article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2017/01/24/university-of-phoenix-sale-clears-a-crucial-hurdle/?utm_term=.97df5802ff0f

The University of Miami School of Law: The Implications of the Regulatory Assault on For-Profit Colleges and the Light at the End of the Tunnel

January 24, 2017

Gabriel A. Lievano – For the past 6 years, the Department of Education has waged war on for-profit colleges. The Department justifies the regulatory assault in the name of protecting students from predatory colleges. The reality is that the regulatory model not only threatens the closure of many for-profit colleges, but also leaves the taxpayers to pay the bill, and non-traditional students without alternative education options.

Since its early days, the Obama administration sought to rein in for-profit colleges, amid a sharp rise in students dropping out and defaulting on loans. In 2010, the administration proposed a plan to penalize vocational schools that leave students with large debt. After a long court battle with the private college industry, the plan went into effect in 2015. The plan proposes to cut off federal aid for career-training schools if their alumni’s earnings are low relative to their student-debt burden. The administration also completed rules that make it easier for borrowers to discharge their student debt, under a law known as “borrower defense” or “defense to repayment.”

Hundreds of for-profit college programs are in danger of closing, as most of them rely on access to federal student loans and grants for most of their revenue. One of the most notable closures was Corinthian Colleges in 2014, which resulted in taxpayer cost of about $350 million. Taxpayers may receive a similar bill for ITT Technical Institute’s closure in September as government officials have estimated that former students could seek forgiveness on as much as $500 million in federal loans. Overall, the Department of Education estimates that the plan will cost taxpayers between $9.5 billion to $21.2 billion.

Progressives facilitating the bludgeoning on ITT Tech and Corinthian proclaim themselves as “student-debt liberators.” What they fail to see, however, are the human costs of the regulatory assault: the sweat and tears of students who lose their progress. When colleges like ITT Tech and Corinthian are forced to close amid regulatory onslaught, many students who were not able to finish their course of study are not able to transfer their credits to other institutions. For-profit colleges like ITT serve non-traditional students like single mothers, veterans, and full-time workers, who mostly come from low-income backgrounds and have previously attended community colleges. These students choose for-profit education for the hands-on training, and for the improved student outcomes over the local community college.

Now that the Obama administration has come to an end, for-profit colleges are hoping that the Trump administration is the light at the end of the tunnel. While President Trump has yet to reveal how his administration will handle federal regulations on for-profit colleges, investors are betting on the easing of regulations. President Trump’s pick for Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, provides a good estimate of the future as she has pushed for expanding private-sector options in primary and secondary education.

The Obama administration’s targeting of for-profit colleges, while well-intentioned, has had some disastrous consequences. The consequences span further than just closure of institutions. Going forward, lawmakers should relax regulations on the industry, while demanding that for-profits tighten their admissions standards to avoid admitting students who are most likely to dropout or default on their loans.

Direct link to article: http://business-law-review.law.miami.edu/implications-regulatory-assault-for-profit-colleges-light-tunnel/