Full Text of HR0201 97th General Assembly
HR0201 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, President Barack Obama has pledged to provide | 3 | | support to students in an effort to reach his goal of the | 4 | | United States leading the world with the highest proportion of | 5 | | college graduates by 2020; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, America's higher education system is comprised of | 7 | | public and private schools, both for-profit and | 8 | | not-for-profit; it is a recognized fact that for-profit career | 9 | | colleges and technical schools are a critical part of our | 10 | | educational infrastructure; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, These schools are currently serving a | 12 | | disproportionately high number of adult, minority, and | 13 | | lower-income students typically identified as "at risk"; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, The United States Department of Education is | 15 | | considering a Gainful Employment rule that would affect all | 16 | | for-profit colleges, universities, and technical schools here | 17 | | in Illinois and throughout the nation; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, The rule would eliminate the opportunity to pursue | 19 | | a chosen program utilizing Title IV financial aid should the | 20 | | student fail to meet an arbitrary debt-to-income ratio; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, The proposed rule would deny opportunity to | 2 | | students who, due to their socio-economic backgrounds, are most | 3 | | likely to fail this litmus test and thus harm those who need | 4 | | help the most; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, The students and academic programs that would be | 6 | | most affected by this measure are those most critical to | 7 | | meeting the Obama Administration's post-secondary education | 8 | | goals; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, For-profit institutions tailor their programs to | 10 | | these non-traditional students who enroll in career and | 11 | | technical programs to gain real-world skills, often while | 12 | | working or caring for their own families; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, These institutions of higher learning have | 14 | | educated millions of students, afforded them career | 15 | | opportunities, and served the student population extremely | 16 | | well; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Rates of student debt incurred to achieve these | 18 | | goals are a concern shared by students, families, and our | 19 | | nation as a whole; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, The unintended consequences of this regulation | 21 | | would harm students, families, communities, and the economic |
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| 1 | | strength of our nation; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, A large, bi-partisan majority in the United States | 3 | | House of Representatives has expressed their disapproval of the | 4 | | current rule as an inappropriate response to these issues by | 5 | | voting to defund efforts to implement the proposal; therefore, | 6 | | be it
| 7 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 8 | | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 9 | | we urge the United States Department of Education and Education | 10 | | Secretary Arne Duncan to not endorse the Gainful Employment | 11 | | rule, an ill-conceived approach to regulating student | 12 | | financial aid which limits choice and opportunity, and instead | 13 | | work with Congress on a solution that does not further harm the | 14 | | very students it seeks to protect; and be it further
| 15 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be sent | 16 | | to Secretary Arne Duncan.
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