Problems in Higher Education: Closures, Sexual Violence and Rising Costs

Many people in this country grow up dreaming about the college experience hoping to obtain the education and skills they need to be successful in life, but many students face obstacles to pursuing their education.The recent closures of multiple large, private for-profit institutions of higher education (IHEs), such as those owned by Corinthian Colleges, Inc. (e.g., Heald College) and ITT Educational Services (e.g., ITT Technical Institutes) have brought into focus the extent to which a student's postsecondary education may be disrupted by a school closure. The closures of these IHEs also highlighted the numerous issues students may face when their institutions close and the difficult decisions they may be required to make in the wake of a closure. Two key issues students may face when their IHE closes relate to their academic plans and their personal finances. Chapter 1 provides an explanation of the options a postsecondary student may pursue in the event the IHE he or she attends closes, any financial relief that may be available to such students, and other practical implications for students following a school's closure.Recent high-profile incidents of sexual violence on campus have heightened congressional and administrative scrutiny of the policies and procedures that institutions of higher education (IHEs) use to address such violence. Chapter 2 provides background information on sexual violence on campus and its prevalence, descriptions of the Clery Act and Title IX, and an analysis of prominent policy and legal issues related to these two statutes. It also includes a brief description of a related third statute focused on educational privacy.One of the biggest financial challenges in modern life is figuring out how to pay for the cost of college. Over the last 40 years, tuition and fees have increased over 1,200 percent. Chapter 3 looks at what is behind the rising cost of college tuition and to consider whether this Nation's tax policies are partly to blame.