It starts: Dept of Ed regulations for Colleges

We’ve been hearing for a long time that, after health care, the federal government was going to start in on increasing regulation of higher education. New regulations announced today define what a “credit hour” is, and place new regulations on the for-profits (where a lot of IT education takes place). We’re seeing similar rhetoric to what I quoted yesterday: Paraphrased as “If we’re paying for college, we get graduates for jobs” as opposed to “If we’re paying for college, educate our students.”

The Obama administration plans to announce Thursday new regulations for colleges that participate in federal student aid programs, an initiative that aims to reshape how admissions recruiters are paid, how course credits are defined and how career training programs are launched.

The new package of rules “will help ensure that students are getting from schools what they pay for: solid preparation for a good job,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement. Education officials say rules are needed because the government provides tens of billions of dollars each year in grants and loans to college students.

via Education Dept. expands oversight of colleges.