Critics Blast For-Profit College Proposal
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Critics are railing against a proposed bill that would allow a private for-profit computer-science university to apply to establish a campus in Providence.
The legislation, sponsored by House Majority Leader Nicholas A. Mattiello, would bring Neumont University, a private school with a campus of about 330 students in Utah, to the city. The Board of Governors for Higher Education would have to approve the school’s application.
But some education officials have raised concerns over whether the state, which has long been opposed to for-profit schools, would be opening a door to more schools if it were to approve Neumont’s application. The for-profit college industry has often been criticized for high dropout rates and as GoLocalProv reported in November, fudging numbers on employment reporting.
“We support the state's longtime historical perspective that for-profit universities have not provided the necessary quality and impact that our current system has,” said Dan Egan, the President of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Rhode Island.
Sets Bad Precedent
The school wants to open leased space in downtown Providence in the fall of 2013 with about 80 students, and by 2016, projected enrollment is expected to be 523. The school aims to fill a demand in the state for employees trained for computer technology careers.
But Egan said Rhode Island’s colleges already offer “3.5 times the degrees [offered at Neumont] and 8 times the degrees in related fields.”
“The precedent that bringing in [the school] sets up is one we don't like,” Egan said.
Neumont, established in 2003, offers bachelor’s degrees in computer science, software and game development, business technology operation management and web design and a master’s degree in computer science. The school’s president, Edward H. “Ned” Levine, is a Rhode Island School of Design graduate and former executive at Johnson & Wales University.
Levine contributed $1,000 to General Treasurer Gina Raimondo’s campaign in 2010.
Red Flags
Mattiello said the school could help boost the state’s economy.
“With our strong focus on expanding the knowledge economy, Neumont University will be an excellent fit in Rhode Island. The presence of Neumont’s Providence campus will be a real boost for the state’s economy and will prepare highly skilled graduates in the growing field of computer sciences and software, web and game development. The synergy with the type of jobs we are attempting to attract in our state will be tremendous,” he said.
Neumont estimates that it will invest $2.8 million in the Providence campus by 2016. The university projects its full-time equivalent employment in the state at that time to be 263, and its total economic impact in Rhode Island by that time will be about $24.8 million. As an employer and a tax-paying entity, it estimate that it would generate about $219,500 in income taxes for the state by 2021, and about $638,200 in property taxes for the City of Providence.
But National Education Association Government Relations Director Patrick Crowley agreed with Egan, suggesting that lawmakers should take a hard look at the school before voting to bring it to Rhode Island.
“The record of private for-profit colleges on issues like student debt default and the pass through of public money into private hand should raise serious red flags for decision makers at all levels of government,” Crowley said. “Neumont University’s own record of broken promises to its students in Virginia and Utah should warrant extra scrutiny before any laws are changed in Rhode Island.”
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Comments:
ProJo Login
10:15am on Tuesday, January 24, 2012
I have no idea if this is a good idea or not but if Crowley opposes it, then it probably is the greatest thing since sliced bread and the GA ought to allow it.
Charles Drago
12:22pm on Tuesday, January 24, 2012
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Neumont University – Institution of Higher Earning
Higher earnings for its owners, that is. But not, alas, for its students.
Here’s how Neumont has decided to begin its most recent attempt to infiltrate Rhode Island: Coincident with the public announcement of Neumont’s current in-state campaign, entries extoling the school’s “virtues” began to flood various websites devoted to posting student reviews of higher education experiences. Coincidence? Or a bald-faced effort to deceive? This manipulation of the record speaks volumes about the character and intentions of the Neumont principals.
Prior to this propaganda campaign, students’ negative reviews were in the majority.
Neumont first tried to sneak into Rhode Island just a few years ago. Its multi-millionaire Mormon owners from Utah and Boston and their front man, Ned Levine, found zero traction. So they slinked away, regrouped, and crept back onto the scene at what they deemed to be a more propitious time.
A time of economic misery and educational malaise in Rhode Island – conditions which Neumont can and will do NOTHING to relieve.
Tuitions at Rhode Island’s public and private institutions of higher education are rising uncontrollably. Poor and middle class populations are effectively being shut out of colleges and universities. Existing schools are not set up to institute effective models for affordable degree programs.
Yet models for affordable, accredited, academically rigorous degree programs that do not force students to choose between learning and earning do exist.
Neumont will NOT serve the best interests of Rhode Islanders. Its programs will be unaffordable by the people most in need of access to higher education.
Neumont will draw from Massachusetts. HEAVILY. So why aren’t Neumont’s principals seeking a Bay State location?
Because it’s cheaper to start up in Rhode Island!
Because it’s easier to do political business in Rhode Island!
End of story.
It’s not about being devoted to serving the people of our state. It’s ALL about serving the financial interests of Neumont’s owners.
It’s an investment scheme, pure and simple. Already Neumont has paid close to $30,000 in January alone to its in-state lobbyists.
Have the legislators who signed the Neumont bills done their due diligence? Have they researched Neumont’s most recent graduation numbers? Neumont’s job placement numbers? Have they looked into Neumont’s “campus” structure? The qualifications of Neumont’s instructors? The backgrounds of Neumont’s owners? The history of Neumont when it operated under a different name or names? The likely state(s) of origin of Neumont’s students?
Neumont offers an “independent” analysis of its potential economic impact on Rhode Island. Have legislators/sponsors attempted to verify the statistical validity of this work? Have they checked on the legitimacy of the business that performed the analysis? Of its relationship to Neumont’s principals?
Let all members of the General Assembly who, for whatever reasons, are looking favorably upon Neumont ask themselves a simple question: What will you say to the thousands of minorities and other poor and middle-class men and women seeking in vain affordable higher education when you abandon efforts to help them achieve that dream and instead bend over forwards to facilitate the establishment of just another institution of higher earning?
Higher earnings for its owners, that is. But not, alas, for its students.