1-19-07 Vocational Education Enrollment Could Grow for California Community Colleges

Volume 20 For Publication Date: January 19, 2007 No. 2

Vocational Education Enrollment Could
Grow for California Community Colleges

Thousands of students at California for-profit colleges are in jeopardy of losing their federal financial aid and the ability to earn professional certificates if the Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education (BPPVE) is terminated on July 1, 2007.

The Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education (Bureau)—part of the California Department of Consumer Affairs—regulates 1,500 degree-granting and vocational schools serving an estimated 400,000 students.

The role of the Bureau is to establish educational standards that are intended to serve as the minimum standard for instructional quality and institutional stability for private postsecondary schools in California. The Bureau responds to student complaints and oversees a fund designed to help reimburse a student’s tuition if a school closes unexpectedly. However, the Bureau has been criticized for its inability to implement and carryout the regulations it has been charged with and is more than two years behind in repaying the tuitions of students at closed schools. Bureau staff asserts that limited resources and staff turnover has led to chronic inconsistency, which has attributed to on-going problems within the agency.

Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed legislation last year that would have extended the life of the agency for an additional 18 months. Federal officials at the United States Department of Education (USDE) have informed California lawmakers that students attending schools regulated by the Bureau will no longer be eligible for financial aid if the Bureau closes. With July 1 around the corner, there may not be time for a legislative solution to this situation, leaving many students stuck without an alternative. With the 2007 Legislative Session just beginning, it is unclear what resolution, if any, lawmakers will attempt to implement between now and July 1.

This situation has generated anxiety amongst the many students who are currently enrolled in vocational programs regulated by the Bureau. As a result, students are making other choices and it is believed that those choices, may increase enrollment at California Community Colleges that offer the largest vocational educational programs.

—Jamillah Moore, Ed.D.