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The Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities on Monday wrote to John King, the acting U.S. secretary of education, to request a "constructive collaboration" between the for-profit sector and the department during the Obama administration's final year. Steve Gunderson, the group's president and CEO, asked King to work with for-profits in the run-up to the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, which is the law that governs federal financial aid.
"A new year, and new leadership at the department, brings opportunities for new beginnings. My hope is that together we can begin an era of constructive collaboration that never forgets our common mission in serving the students enrolled in our sector's schools. Unfortunately, the past six years have been marked by an era of ideological confrontation where nobody wins -- especially the students," Gunderson wrote.
In the letter Gunderson pointed to steep enrollment declines many for-profits have experienced in recent years, noting that the sector enrolled 562,000 fewer students in 2014 than it did four years earlier. However, he also said for-profits issued more credentials in 2014 than they did during the height of the recession. And Gunderson criticized the department for its aggressive scrutiny of for-profits.
"As much as I am a fan of all sectors of higher education, I believe that no sector could survive the level of investigations and attacks that have been directed to our schools in recent years," he wrote.
