May 2015 Misrepresentation FROM PAGE 1


The Obama Administration has led unprecedented efforts to protect consumers from predatory career colleges. It has established new gainful employment regulations to hold career training


programs accountable ensure that and


ensure that students are not saddled with debt they cannot repay. These regulations


programs


improve their outcomes for students – or risk losing access to federal student aid. Last year, the Department announced a new federal interagency task force to help ensure proper oversight of for-profit institutions, which will be led by Under Secretary Ted Mitchell.


"This should be a wake-up call for consumers across the country about the abuses that can exist within the for-profit college sector," U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said of the Department's enforcement action


against Corinthian. "We will continue to hold the career college industry accountable


and demand


reform for the good of students and taxpayers. And we will need Congress to join us in that effort."


accurate information to help students choose


college to Corinthian violated just for students' and


taxpayers' trust," said Under Secretary Mitchell. "Their substantial misrepre- sentations evidence a blatant disregard not


professional standards,


but for students' futures. This is unacceptable, and we are holding them accountable."


As part of these ongoing efforts


to ensure that career colleges prepare students for the workforce, institutions are


required to provide accurate


information about their graduates' job placement success and the types of employment their graduates obtained. The Department expects all institutions to adhere to the highest standard of


care and diligence in following


the requirements of participating in federal student aid programs to ensure colleges are always doing right by students and taxpayers.


After initial Corinthian concerns about Colleges' job placement


rates were raised in January 2014, the Department has taken a series of steps to protect students and hold Corinthian


accountable, including


increasing the Department's financial oversight of Corinthian and requiring the company to sell or close all of its


mandated


programs. The Department also the establishment of an


independent monitor – under the leadership of former U.S. Attorney Patrick


Fitzgerald valid information to – to ensure


Corinthian met its obligations to the Department, including proper, limited use of federal student aid dollars and providing


students regarding their options during Corinthian's transition. The majority of Corinthian's campuses were sold to the nonprofit Zenith Education Group, which agreed to provide a number of new consumer protections, such


"Instead of providing clear and which


attend,


www.hamptonroadsmessenger.com


as providing refund and withdrawal opportunities to students in poorly- performing programs, and has taken steps to strengthen programs and improve reducing


affordability, including by tuition. The sale


Protection Bureau allowed


most students to continue pursuing their career goals without disruption, and the Department and the Consumer Financial


have


since worked to provide more than $480 million in loan forgiveness for borrowers who took out Corinthian's high-cost private student loans.


Colleges, numerous causes


In its investigation of Corinthian the Department found for


concern with


practices throughout the Heald College system. Some examples include:


Heald paid temporary agencies to


hire its graduates to work at temporary jobs on its own campuses – and counted these graduates as placed. For example, Heald paid companies to hire graduates for temporary positions as short as two days, asked them to perform tasks like moving computers and organizing


cables, and then


counted those graduates as "placed in field."


Heald College counted


placements that were clearly out of the student's field of study as in-field placements. For example, one campus classified a 2011 graduate of an Accounting program as employed in the field based upon a food service job she started at Taco Bell in June 2006. Another campus counted a 2011 Business Administration graduate as placed in the field based upon a seasonal clerk position she obtained in Macy's Shipping and Receiving Department during November 2010, which the student stated ended prior to her graduation.


Heald College failed to disclose that it counted as "placed" those graduates whose employment began prior to graduation, and in some cases even prior to the graduate's attendance at Heald. The Department's analysis revealed that, according to Corinthian's own data for 2012 graduates, over one-third of the graduates reported to have been "placed in field" started their jobs prior to January 1, 2012, and over one-quarter started their jobs prior to January 1, 2011. And in follow-up interviews


with some of those


students, they told the Department that their jobs were not related to their field of study, nor had they received promotions or increased responsibili- ties or otherwise progressed in those jobs because of their Heald education.


failed to state that students


from its


In some of its disclosures, Heald it had excluded placement


rate


calculations who the college said had deferred employment for one reason or another. In one case, a criminal justice program claimed a placement rate of 100 percent, but it had classified almost 60 percent of the graduates as


unavailable another case, a medical


for employment. In assisting


program claimed a placement rate of 100 percent based upon 51 graduates having been placed, but it had classified almost 43 percent, or 38 of the 89 total graduates of the program, as unavailable for employment.


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Throughout this safeguards process, the


The Hampton Roads Messenger 11 the


Department has sought a wind down of Corinthian Colleges that protects students,


a defense to repayment of their federal student loans.


investment


taxpayers have made in their success, and creates opportunities for students to finish what they started. In the coming days, the Department will provide more information


to


Corinthian's students to help answer questions about their federal student aid and their options. The Department is also working on a process to help federal student loan borrowers submit


"We have kept students at the


heart of every decision we have made about Corinthian, and we will continue to do so as we move forward," Under Secretary Mitchell said. "When our borrowers bring claims to us that their school committed fraud or other violations of state law against them, we will give them the relief that they are entitled to under federal law and regulations."


Governor Joins George Mason University to Launch Institute for Advanced Biomedical Research


The institute is designed to promote collaboration on research to cure diseases


McAuliffe


Virginia Governor Terry joined


George Mason


University (GMU) President Ángel Cabrera to launch the university’s Institute for Advanced Biomedical Research, a multidisciplinary center that will pursue some of the toughest medical questions facing society.


The institute, in partnership with community hospitals, regional medical


Researchers


research and from


centers and other major research universities, will be a focal point for biomedical development.


across the university’s colleges will work together under one roof to find advanced diagnostics and treatments for cancer, heart disease, and other life-threatening illnesses.


“Biomedical research and


biotechnology play a vital role in improving the lives of our citizens and create opportunities that are vital for the new Virginia economy,” Governor McAuliffe said. “The institute will create jobs and drive economic growth. But more importantly, the work taking place at this institute will improve lives, cure disease and benefit us all.”


GMU is Virginia’s largest public


research university and is dedicated to conducting research of consequence that can improve lives and drive economic prosperity. To highlight the university’s commitment, GMU is renaming its campus in Prince William County the George Mason University Science and Technology Campus.


university


“The public mission of this is central


to everything


we do,” George Mason University President Ángel Cabrera said. “Along with educating students and pursuing research of great societal importance, we see ourselves as an economic and cultural engine in our region, and we are committed to creating partnerships that generate jobs, drive innovation and fuel economic growth.”


squre-foot research facility is dedicated solely to research


disciplines and to help translate research


into


between research clinical


applications


that have direct impact on patients. Current research at GMU’s Science and Technology Campus includes personalized


medicine, proteomics,


cancer treatments, Lyme disease, nan- otechnology-based


diagnostics, and


The nearly $40 million, 75,000- of biomedical


innovation that could lead to new businesses. It is designed to facilitate collaboration


infectious diseases. Researchers from GMU’s science, engineering, health, and education colleges will collaborate at the new institute.


Located


Manassas, George and


Technology


outside the City Campus


venture of


Mason Science is the


university anchor of Innovation Park, a 1,600-acre research and development public-private


housing


innovative companies in life sciences, information technology and other re- search-intensive sectors. The campus is 20 miles from Dulles International Airport and within 40 miles of the National Institutes of Health, Food and Drug Administration and numerous world-class hospitals.


Science include:


Some research highlights at the and


Technology GMU’s Center for Campus Applied


Proteomics and Molecular Medicine has pioneered applications of proteomics to treatments for patients with metastatic


breast cancer who


otherwise had few options. Technology created by GMU’s


proteomics experts, Professors Lance Liotta and Emanual “Chip” Petricoin, is helping other biomedical fields develop faster diagnostic tools and discover new insights into disease.


The Pancreatic Cancer Action


Network and American Association for Cancer Research awarded Petricoin a $1 million grant to research pancreatic cancer.


with Phoenix-based


Last year, GMU partnered Translational


Genomics Research Institute (TGen) in a first-of-its-kind alliance. GMU’s proteomics work complements TGen’s leading role


in genomics, or DNA,


research. Combined, proteomics and genomics delve into the underlying causes of disease and can pinpoint the best treatment for each patient.


GMU researchers are leading the


way in finding cures. A $3.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is funding HIV research that shows promise in finding a cure within the next few years.


Researchers also are looking for answers in the natural world, from reptile blood to cranberries. Research supported by a $7.5 million Defense Threat Reduction Agency grant found sophisticated germ-fighters in alligator blood that could help wounded soldiers in the field fend off infection.


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