New Poll From Third Way Shows Voters Want Accountability For Career Education Programs

Most students head to college, hoping they will graduate and land a job earning more than if they had gone straight to work after high school. Unfortunately, over 1,700 career education programs leave their graduates earning less than the average income of a worker with a high school diploma.

The Higher Education Act (HEA) is supposed to protect students from these poorly performing programs and stop taxpayer dollars from flowing to those programs in the form of federal financial aid. The HEA requires that all programs at for-profit colleges and universities and programs of one year or less at public and nonprofit schools must “prepare students for gainful employment in a recognized occupation.” Early this year, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) started work on regulations defining what gainful employment is (GE).

Strong GE rules have been over a decade in the making. The most recent rule put into place under the Obama administration in 2014 was rescinded by the Trump administration in 2019. Now, ED is working to set a new rule in place. According to the most recent draft language, that rule will ensure that graduates from career education programs earn enough to pay off their loans and that graduates earn more than the average worker with a high school diploma.

It is not unusual for certain regulations to become a bit of a political football. GE is just one of those regulations. Under both the Obama and Biden administrations, there was, and still is, an urgency to craft regulations that protect students and taxpayers from institutions that leave them worse off than if they never enrolled in college. Under the Trump administration, there were massive efforts to deregulate and weaken the role of ED in being able to hold institutions accountable for bad outcomes.

As it turns out, this back and forth over GE rules may be misguided, and most Americans believe strong GE rules are important. New polling data from the center-left think tank Third Way shows that regulations holding colleges accountable if they run poorly performing programs are very popular with voters and leaders in higher education.

What is in the current draft of the new GE rule?

The details of the final rule are still unknown. The most recent draft regulation presented by ED during negotiations early this year had two tests that a program would have to pass in order to continue receiving federal financial aid: 1) A student debt-to-earnings ratio to ensure graduates of programs are able to pay their debt; and 2) A wage metric that ensures graduates are earning more than a high school graduate in their state.

These criteria function together to prevent schools from raking in federal financial aid dollars and failing to provide students with an education that leads to increased income. If too many graduates of these programs end up paying too much income toward loan payments and/or earn the same or less than the average high school graduate, the program will fail. Failing programs will have federal financial aid cut off. ED plans to publish its draft GE rule in April 2023.

What does Third Way’s Polling data show?

Third Way worked with polling firm Global Strategy Group to ask 1,000 likely voters and 200 college and university leaders what they thought of proposed GE regulations. The results show strong support for GE among likely voters and college leaders.

Third Way’s polling found that over three-quarters of likely voters and college leaders support the broad brushstrokes of a strong GE rule. The polling also showed that voters are more likely to support the rule once they receive a more detailed explanation of how it functions.

Support for a debt-to-earnings threshold increased to 73 percent—a jump of 11 points—once voters received a more detailed explanation of the rule. Ensuring that graduates of career preparation programs earn more than the average high school graduate was also very popular. Third Way found that 70 percent of likely voters and 73 percent of college leaders supported a minimum earnings threshold. Support from likely voters increased from 64 percent to 70 once they heard a longer, more detailed explanation of the rule.

Support for a strong GE rule remained high after voters were asked about their other higher education policy priorities. Sixty percent of those surveyed said ensuring higher education programs help graduates get good jobs and earn a decent income was important, compared to 51 percent who said free college was a priority.

Federal regulations tend to be complex and are rarely politically motivating for voters, requiring presidential administrations to represent voters’ and government interests when drafting rules. This new polling data makes it clear that when properly explained, regulations holding career preparation programs accountable for their outcomes are what institutions and voters desire.

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