Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Dateline: March 8, 2006
Did you know that two things happened today that will have an effect on higher education for adults? That's right... I'm speaking of Education Management's going private in a staggering deal. The Education Management Corporation, the nation's second-largest commercial school and education company, has agreed to be sold to Providence Equity Partners and the private equity arm of Goldman Sachs for $3.4 billion in cash.
This deal comes at a time when for-profit enrollments is outpacing traditional ones. 4% of students at degree granting institutions attend for-profits. The deal also comes at a time when Congress has repealed the 50% rule enabling schools from education Managment to agressively expand.
The deal price represents a 16% premium over current market prices.
and this is all in the same week... that saw slipped into a the budget bill that passed both houses last Tuesday, a provision that repealed "the 50-50 rule," which required colleges and vocational schools to offer at least 50% of their courses in traditional settings before students could qualify for federal loans.
Supposedly this will be good for "need-based" students and students that do not desire a liberal-arts education. But I think there will be an environment just ripe with opportunities for charlatans, frauds, and diploma mills that the 50% rules was designed to keep out of federal coffers to take advantage of the rules change.
In previous weeks there have been several stories about private not-for-profit colleges being bought by for-profit companies.
And who do you suppose was engineering all this? Can you say Represenative and GOP house leader John Boehner? Boehner who took over for Texas' pride Tom Delay was the house education committee leader now he has been able to move his lobbyists agenda to do jsut what non-profits wanted.
It's a sad day for quality education for adults. Caveat Emptor you say? But that is part of the issue of educating. Marketers can make anything exciting, worthwhile and valuable for you.
One good thing that is still remains is the default rate provision on federal loans. How far out or how long will a school be able to exist without being subject to these guidelines? For a full-time student I guess 4.5 years if loans are due back 6 months after graduation but when we are talking about adults attending classes part-time it will be much longer.
Okay, that's post #1, and something on my mind this week. Any thoughts from you?
Did you know that two things happened today that will have an effect on higher education for adults? That's right... I'm speaking of Education Management's going private in a staggering deal. The Education Management Corporation, the nation's second-largest commercial school and education company, has agreed to be sold to Providence Equity Partners and the private equity arm of Goldman Sachs for $3.4 billion in cash.
This deal comes at a time when for-profit enrollments is outpacing traditional ones. 4% of students at degree granting institutions attend for-profits. The deal also comes at a time when Congress has repealed the 50% rule enabling schools from education Managment to agressively expand.
The deal price represents a 16% premium over current market prices.
and this is all in the same week... that saw slipped into a the budget bill that passed both houses last Tuesday, a provision that repealed "the 50-50 rule," which required colleges and vocational schools to offer at least 50% of their courses in traditional settings before students could qualify for federal loans.
Supposedly this will be good for "need-based" students and students that do not desire a liberal-arts education. But I think there will be an environment just ripe with opportunities for charlatans, frauds, and diploma mills that the 50% rules was designed to keep out of federal coffers to take advantage of the rules change.
In previous weeks there have been several stories about private not-for-profit colleges being bought by for-profit companies.
And who do you suppose was engineering all this? Can you say Represenative and GOP house leader John Boehner? Boehner who took over for Texas' pride Tom Delay was the house education committee leader now he has been able to move his lobbyists agenda to do jsut what non-profits wanted.
It's a sad day for quality education for adults. Caveat Emptor you say? But that is part of the issue of educating. Marketers can make anything exciting, worthwhile and valuable for you.
One good thing that is still remains is the default rate provision on federal loans. How far out or how long will a school be able to exist without being subject to these guidelines? For a full-time student I guess 4.5 years if loans are due back 6 months after graduation but when we are talking about adults attending classes part-time it will be much longer.
Okay, that's post #1, and something on my mind this week. Any thoughts from you?
