Now that news sources are back from their holiday hiatus, we have a couple of noteworthy stories to bring you.聽 Both articles highlight the continuing trend toward greater accountability.
:聽 Last week in Florida, a judge upheld new rules by the State Department of Education that require tenure decisions鈥攌nown in Florida as 鈥渃ontinuing contracts鈥濃�攖o be contingent upon professors鈥� performance on certain student success criteria. The judge also upheld a new requirement that faculty must work for five years, rather than three, before being eligible for the contracts. The United Faculty of Florida had contested that the new rules were beyond the scope of the department’s powers, but the judge rejected that claim.
:聽 On Thursday, three Democratic senators introduced a bill dubbed 鈥渢he Protect Student Borrowers Act of 2013,鈥� which would impose a fine on colleges with high student-loan default rates and federal student-aid enrollment rates of at least 25 percent. Penalties would be on a sliding scale. On the low end, colleges with default rates of 15 to 20 percent would incur a fee equal to 5 percent of the total value of loans issued to their students in default. On the high end, schools with default rates of 30 percent or more would incur a 20 percent penalty.聽 The Education Department currently cuts off federal funds for institutions with high default rates, but the senators argue it punishes only “the most extravagant, outrageous schools.” The Chronicle writes, 鈥淭he proposed legislation would hit for-profit institutions the hardest, as their graduates have the highest default rates, on average.鈥�