In February, the University of California system closed a loophole that allowed for students to obtain fully online degrees. While this is certainly a step in the right direction, more must be done to protect students from low-quality, predatory online-program managers (OPMs) and the bootcamps they offer at brand-name colleges.
The UC system currently offers many bootcamps and more often than not, students of these bootcamps fail to secure a job in their field, walk away with little or no new knowledge or skills, and take on a mountain of debt in the process. UC schools, as recipients of Title IV funds, are misleadingly using their stellar reputation to profit by renting out their names for use by these for-profit education companies. SBPC applauds UC’s recent decision and asks them to finish what they’ve started by banning fully online non-degree programs.
Read the SBPC letter here.
Read SBPC’s report on public universities partnering with predatory private companies here.
Read SBPC’s report exposing a college’s scheme with a coding bootcamp to scam students here.
Read SBPC’s paper on the risks inherent to OPM contracts here.
Read SBPC’s letter in response to GAO’s report on OPMs here.
Read SBPC’s letter to the Department of Education on third-party servicer regulations here.