Career Day 2010: defending for-profit colleges, fighting back against gainful employment and speaking out for 3.2 million students.

Again, all of this took place at today’s Career Day Student Rally.

A crowd of over two thousand students from private sector colleges and universities (PSCUs) across the country converged on Capitol Hill today to demand that Washington allow them to make their own educational choices. The first ever rally of students attending career-oriented PSCUs sought to set the record straight about the high value of private-sector education and the ability of students to have access to this education.

This event was from this morning’s Career Day on Capitol Hill.

The former Secretary of Education vocalizes her support for private sector colleges and universities. Read the entire piece, but there’s a noteworthy passage:

Now the administration wants to thwart those in the private sector who are investing capital and spurring innovation to accommodate students who need more convenient and creative educational opportunities than those offered by traditional schools. Efforts to restrict access to a full range of education providers undermine our shared goals of raising graduation rates and increasing affordability.

This doesn’t make sense. At a time when the administration should be focused on job creation and strategies to prepare today’s students for tomorrow’s jobs, it is targeting private-sector higher-education providers that serve about 3 million students a year. The result could be more jobs lost and fewer Americans getting the education they need to secure good jobs. Many for-profit schools are serving those least well-served by traditional higher education, whose capacity is limited, particularly in tough economic times. It is with low-income and minority students that our nation is failing. Only 30 percent of African Americans ages 25 to 34, and less than 20 percent of Latinos in that age group, have an associate degree or higher. Students from the highest-income families are almost eight times as likely as those from the lowest-income families to earn a bachelor’s degree by age 24.

This Wednesday, September 29, 2010, over one thousand students from private sector colleges and universities will converge on Capitol Hill to demand that Washington allow them to make their own educational choices.Students will be rallying to set the record straight about the value of private-sector education. Many are concerned about the current negative environment in Washington regarding private-sector colleges and universities and want to show their support for the education that they’ve received and how it will contribute to their long-term career success. They oppose policies that limit choice and diminish the value of their postsecondary educations.As students rally for their rights, they will have a clear message for Members of Congress: Washington should not propose policies that would make it harder for working people to get the skills they need, the jobs they seek, and the economic opportunities that build careers, families and communities.

WHO: Over one thousand students from around the country; Members of Congress; Dr. Arthur Keiser, Chancellor, Keiser University and Chairman, Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities (APSCU); Harris Miller, President, APSCU; Dawn Connor, President, Students for Academic Choice

WHAT: Students Rally for Private Sector Colleges and Universities

WHERE: The U.S. Capitol Grounds, West Front Lawn, Garfield Circle Entrance, Maryland Ave., SW and 1st St.

WHEN: 10:30 AM,
Wednesday, September 29, 2010