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DeVry Education Group Statement on Proposed Gainful Employment Rule
[March 14, 2014]

DeVry Education Group Statement on Proposed Gainful Employment Rule


DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. --(Business Wire)--

DeVry Education Group supports reasonable regulation concerning accountability and affordability in higher education. Today's proposed Gainful Employment regulations issued by the U.S. Department of Education moves closer to that mark, but is not there yet.

As currently drafted, the rule would seriously undermine the Obama administration's goal of increasing the number of U.S. college graduates, especially lower-income Americans. Data shows that independent students who start out with the lowest income have the highest debt-to-income ratios after graduation - and would be disproportionately affected by the programmatic CDR measure. Public sector and independent institutions do not have the capacity to serve these displaced students, who would be left with limited educational options due to this proposed rule.

The proposed rule holds private-sector programs to a higher standard than public-sector or independent programs. The DOE's own data shows the average debt-to-earnings ratio for all bachelor's degree graduates in their first year of repayment is 13 percent (12 percent public and 16 percent independent). Under the proposed rule, private-sector colleges and universities would be held to an 8 percent standard. Wy the different standards? A fair rule would be one applied equally to all.



By applying these arbitrary standards and casting too broad a net, the proposal snares many good and historically productive programs in critical areas like information technology and healthcare. And public-sector schools do not have the funding to increase their capacity. It would cost $5.2 billion to provide the capacity to accommodate the estimated 630,000 students displaced by this proposed rule.1 That level of funding is unlikely to materialize anytime soon.

We see a way forward, through regulations that truly gauge the quality of a program, through measures like actual employment, affordability and commitment to serving non-traditional and low-income students. We remain committed to working with the DOE to improve these rules.


About DeVry Education Group

The purpose of DeVry Education Group is to empower its students to achieve their educational and career goals. DeVry Education Group (NYSE: DV; member S&P MidCap 400 Index) is a global provider of educational services and the parent organization of American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine, Becker Professional Education, Carrington College, Carrington College California, Chamberlain College of Nursing, DeVry Brasil, DeVry University, Ross University School of Medicine and Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine. These institutions offer a wide array of programs in business, healthcare, technology, accounting and finance. For more information, please visit www.devryeducationgroup.com.

1 Source (News - Alert): U.S. Department of Education; HIGHER EDUCATION Negotiated Rulemaking 2013-2014 - Gainful Employment; PRE-SESSION 3 MATERIALS provided by the Department to the negotiating committee prior to Session 3 (Posted December 11, 2013) x Source: The Public Cost of Higher Education: A Comparison of Public, Private Not-For-Profit, and Private For-Profit, August 2010, Robert D. Shapiro, Nam D. Pham (Average difference in cost to serve between public 2- and 4-year institutions versus for-profit sector) = $5.2 billion


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