Schools like Garvins Associates program are deliberately misleading, and survive by preying on unsuspecting students.
Theyll get on the phone with creditors and negotiate payment plans, said a spokesperson for the Department of Consumer Afirs.
So r, she said, those counselors have saved their clients over $6.5 million.
And for its own part, the City went the educational route, borrowing a page from its adversarys own playbook and plastering the subways with anecdotal posters that advertise a better, smarter way.
A city government campaign calledKnow Before You Enroll,sponsored by theDepartment of Consumer Afirs, the Department of Education, andMayors Office of Adult Education, aims to warn New Yorkers against the dangers of some such schools.
I signed up for nursing school and paid $6,000, says Paula from Brooklyn in one of the ads from this campaign, which is featured in subway cars, bus shelters, and newss throughout the city. Ten months later, I found out the school wasnt licensed and the Attorney General shut it down. My dream is shattered and Im in debt.
But not all for-profit schools are predatory, Commissioner Mintz is careful to note. Defenders of for-profit schools praise their equal-opportunity accessibility; since many have little or no academic criteria for acceptance, they offer options for students who might not otherwise qualify for any sort of higher education.
That is what happened to Garvin, a 26-year-old Brooklyn resident who attended a two-year Associates degree program that advertised on television. Only after completing that degree, to the tune of $25,000, did Garvin find out that his credits wouldnt transfer to the City University of New York, where he planned to finish his undergraduate education. To obtain his bachelors degree, Garvin would have to start college all over again.
These schools exist on a spectrum, Mintz said. At one end of that spectrum, he believes, decent for-profit schools operate with proper accreditation, and bestow degrees and certificates of value. At the other, schools operate in a realm that is plainly illegal.
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Those vulnerable populations include low-income communities where language or literacy barriers obscure the processes associated with enrolling in school, Mintz said.
The problem is, theres a pretty huge middle. To address the glut of these legal-but-not-quite-legitimate schools, the Know Before You Enroll campaign has set up a hotline to cull complaints from New Yorkers about specific schools and training programs. The city will forward those complaints on to the state Department of Education and the office of the Attorney General.
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In the meantime, the state has the power to shut down schools found operating without licenses. But that doesnt mean they always do. Like any state agency, the Department of Education, the State Board of Regents, and the attorney generals office all have to prioritize. This campaign may not top their lists.
In the middle, you have schools that are licensed but arent delivering what theyre promising, arent delivering value, Mintz said. What theyre doing is taking yet more dollars from people who are trying to better their situations.
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The programs in the middle of this spectrum pose the greatest challenge to regulators and students, he said.
Just feet from these campaign posters appear ads for the very schools the city seeks to warn against. Combination GED and associate degree programs, unlicensed and unaccredited schools, and vocational courses that offer guaranteed job placement.
For-profit schools in New York City cost attendees an average of $4,700, according to a survey by the Better Business Bureau.
Any action taken against these predatory schools would ll to state agencies; when it comes to their regulation, the city has no authority. The same goes for reform. Stricter policies around licensing and accreditation, loans, and consumer protection, all rely on the legislature up in Albany.
City Warns Against For-Profit Adult Education Scams? technical schools in new york city,But in recent years, many New Yorkers have been punished for doing just that; namely, some of the over 130,000 who enroll in for-profit schools in the city each year.
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As for the unlucky New Yorkers who have already been prey to these predatory schools, theres a service for them too. The city offers free one-on-one financial counseling.
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Gotham Gazette is brought to you byCitizens Union Foundation. It is made possible by a granCity Warns Against For-Profit Adult Education Scams? technical schools in new york cityts from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Altman Foundation, the Fund for the City of New York, the John S. antechnical schools in new york cityd James L. Knight Foundation, New York Times Foundation, the Charles H. Revson Foundation, the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and readers like you. Please consider atax-deductible contribution.
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The campaigns main thrust boils down to a list of tips. In addition to the advice to be suspicious of employment guarantees, these include the classics: avoid unlicensed schools; do your research; dont sign up on the spot.
Photo provided by Office of Mayor Michael BloombergIn a stagnant economy and a competitive job market, the prevailing wisdom tells unemployed workers to return to school to obtain new skills.
But for what its worth, the city plans to help them raise some funds. Were working with the state, helping secure them resources so they can investigate, said Tara Colton, the Executive Director of the Mayors Office of Adult Education.
But even though theyre more expensive than their public counterparts, these for-profit or proprietary schools have become more popular in recent years.
Unfortunately, difficult economic times sometimes draw out those who would take advantage of vulnerable New Yorkers, said Department of Consumer Afirs Commissioner Jonathan Mintz.
