4.6 74/7: ED 8/11 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION OVERSIGHT: HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON HUMAN RESOURCES OF THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT ONE HUNDRED FOURTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION JUNE 6, 1996 Printed for the use of the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight 43-818 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON: 1997 For sale by the U.S. Government Printing Office DEPOSITORY Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Sales Office, Washington, DC 20402 ISBN 0-16-055663-5 NOV 1 7 1997 Stanford Univ Jensson COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM AND OVERSIGHT WILLIAM F. CLINGER, JR., Pennsylvania, Chairman BENJAMIN A. GILMAN, New York DAN BURTON, Indiana J. DENNIS HASTERT, Illinois PETER BLUTE, Massachusetts WILLIAM J. MARTINI, New Jersey MICHAEL PATRICK FLANAGAN, Illinois ROBERT L. EHRLICH, JR., Maryland CARDISS COLLINS, Illinois ROBERT E. WISE, JR., West Virginia JOHN M. SPRATT, JR., South Carolina PAUL E. KANJORSKI, Pennsylvania CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York BARBARA-ROSE COLLINS, Michigan ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, District of Columbia JAMES P. MORAN, Virginia GENE GREEN, Texas CARRIE P. MEEK, Florida CHAKA FATTAH, Pennsylvania BILL BREWSTER, Oklahoma TIM HOLDEN, Pennsylvania ELIJAH CUMMINGS, Maryland BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont JAMES L. CLARKE, Staff Director نام CONTENTS Barnes, Letha, chairman of the American Association of Cosmetology Schools; Thomas Kube, executive director of the Accrediting Commis- sion of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology [ACCŠCT]; and P. Alistair MacKinnon, coordinator of Federal Education Legislation for the New York State Department of Education, accompanied by Thomas McCord, coordinator, Office of Research and Information Sys- tems for Higher and Professional Education, and Nancy Willie-Schiff, Blanchette, Cornelia M., Associate Director, Education and Employment Issues, General Accounting Office, accompanied by Wayne Upshaw, Assistant Director; and C. Jeff Appel, Senior Evaluator, General Ac- Longanecker, David A., Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education; and Thomas R. Bloom, Inspector General for the Department of Edu- cation, accompanied by Pat Howard, Branch Chief for Postsecondary Letters, statements, etc., submitted for the record by: Barnes, Letha, chairman of the American Association of Cosmetology Page Blanchette, Cornelia M., Associate Director, Education and Employment 9 Green, Hon. Gene, a Representative in Congress from the State of Texas, Kube, Thomas, executive director of the Accrediting Commission of Ca- reer Schools and Colleges of Technology [ACCSCT], prepared statement Longanecker, David A., Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education, MacKinnon, P. Alistair, coordinator of Federal Education Legislation for the New York State Department of Education, prepared statement DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION OVERSIGHT: GATEKEEPING THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 1996 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON HUMAN RESOURCES AND INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS, COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM AND OVERSIGHT, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:05 p.m., in room 2247, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Christopher Shays (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Representatives Shays, Souder, Morella, Towns, and Green. Staff present: Lawrence J. Halloran, staff director and counsel; Christopher Allred, professional staff member; Thomas M. Costa, clerk; and Cheryl Phelps and Denise Wilson, minority professional staff members. Mr. SHAYS. Thank you for coming today. I'd like to call this hearing to order and welcome our witnesses and also our guests. Today we ask this question: Is the Department of Education effectively discharging its statutory duty to guard against the abuse of Federal higher education funds by schools that don't teach what students need to learn? This year the Department of Education will make almost $40 billion available through student loan aid program authorized under title IV of the Higher Education Act. These funds will be used to pay tuition at public and private universities, community colleges, and both nonprofit and proprietary vocational and technical schools. How can we be sure that the substantial Federal commitment to higher education is being used effectively? This question first arose during our hearings last year on the Department's mission and performance. The Department of Education inspector general [IG] identified Federal education assistance programs as, "those most vulnerable to fraud, waste and abuse," in part due to "the multitude of entities the Department has had to rely on to assist it in administering the programs." The IG concluded that the control of access to Federal funds, or the gatekeeping process, "has proven insufficient in keeping weak and unscrupulous schools out of the SFA programs," the student financial aid programs. Based on that testimony, we asked the General Accounting Office [GAO] to identify weaknesses in the gatekeeping process affecting the quality of the education and training purchased with Federal (1) |