A House panel voted Tuesday to raise the requirements of proprietary schools to a level that matches accredited institutions "to prevent for-profit schools from taking advantage of Tennessee students."
Under the committee-approved recommendation, proprietary colleges such as DeVry University and the University of Phoenix would need to be regionally accredited in the same way as Vanderbilt University or the University of Tennessee by 2012.
“Many of these proprietary schools have been acting like predators feeding off the hopes and dreams of those who want to fulfill the American dream of achieving a college education,” said Majority Leader Gary Odom (D-Nashville). “We must act to protect the citizens of Tennessee and to assure that an education from a proprietary school is just as valuable as an education from any public college in Tennessee.”
In addition to the accreditation requirement, the committee also recommended that proprietary colleges be required to fully disclosure information that is important to students who are considering an education at the school. Currently proprietary schools can withhold whatever information they choose, including complete tuition information, predatory loan practices and the inability of proprietary class credit transferring to accredited universities.
“We require car dealers to fully disclose the facts about a vehicle they are selling, and we require banks to fully disclose the contract terms of the car loans they provide,” said Rep. Odom. “Yet right now these schools don’t have to disclose anything and that’s not fair to students wanting to earn a degree.”
Rep. Odom said he has already begun filing legislation based on the recommendations of the committee and hopes to see that legislation passed this year.
“I hope these bills will curb the aggressive nature of proprietary colleges and get them back to the fundamental reason they’re in business – to provide the people of Tennessee with a valuable and fulfilling education,” he said.
For more information on the committee contact Majority Leader Odom’s office at (615) 741-4410 or online at rep.gary.odom@legislature.state.tn.us.