With a number of high-profile proprietary colleges closing their doors in recent years, a congresswoman from the Sunshine State is offering a proposal to help students impacted by these often sudden shutdowns.
On Thursday, U.S. Rep. Donna Shalala, D-Fla., who led the University of Miami and Hunter College as president and was chancellor of the University of Wisconsin, teamed up with U.S. Rep. Peter King, R-NY, and U.S. Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., on the “Stop College Closures Act” which would make higher ed accrediting agencies “do more to prevent and protect students from falling victim to sudden school closures.”
The bill would ensure accreditors “respond to complaints, monitor and assess an institution’s records of student complaints, and submit such complaints to the Secretary and state agency as appropriate” and makes them “review teach-out plans and agreements when they see signs of a potential school closure.” The bill also ensures more monitoring for colleges and universities which stumble out of the gate at the start of the accreditation process.