CCA to Sponsor Regional Grassroots Workshop

The Career College Association (CCA) will sponsor its second Regional Grassroots Workshop in a quarterly series for the Northeast Region that will be anchored by an event with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) on August 12,  2010  in New York City. The first Regional Workshop was held in Chicago in May 2010 for the Midwest Region.

Workshop Highlights:

• An entire session dedicated to showing off your campus and students to elected officials entitled "How to Conduct a Successful Visit," which will give you the tools to initiate a relationship with policy makers and third parties that can help build credibility.
• "Growing and Sustaining Relationships" will illustrate how fundraising and developing champions can foster relationships created through campus visits and other contacts.

CCA has reserved a room block at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square for August 11th.  Please let the hotel know you are with the Career College Association's group to receive the discount rate of $269.00 for the night. The discount rate ends on Wednesday, July 21!!!  To make accommodations, please call the hotel directly at 1-800-266-9432, or you may click here to reserve your room online. 

Attendees are invited to a CCA-sponsored dinner on August 11th at the site of the training sessions, the Marriot Marquis.  CCA looks forward to your joining them for dinner, and to your crucial participation in the training sessions. By working together, we can effectively make the case to Senator Gillibrand and her colleagues that career education holds the key to rebuilding our nation's workforce.

To review the agenda click here. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact Chris Collins at CCA by phone at (202) 336-6714 or via e-mail at Chris.Collins@career.org. For more information and to register online see the CCA Website.

Click here to review agenda.

May 2010 -- MAPCS Membership Directory is Published

The MAPCS 2010 Membership Directory has just been published.  It contains a comprehensive listing of member schools and trade partners as well as an economic report that provides a profile of the Massachusetts private career school industry.

The Directory will now be distributed electronically to the membership and to all of the career schools in Massachusetts, to high school guidance counselors, workforce development agencies and to public officials.  The directory will also be printed at a later date.

If you are interested in advertising in the directory, please contact Cathy Flaherty at MAPCS.  The number is 508-695-3919.  The email address is cflaherty@mapcs.org.

MAPCS 2010 Membership Directory

Advertising Flyer

Online Advertising Insertion Order Form

May 2010

MAPCS Voices Concern About Surety Bond Legislation

A bill is making its way through the Massachusetts Legislature that is of cocern to MAPCS members. The bill is HB 6, An Act Relative to Financial Requirements of Business, Correspondence and Trade Schools. This legislation repeals the one hundred thousand dollar cap on surety bonds and other forms of indemnification for business, correspondence and trade schools. 

MAPCS is concerned that a repeal of the $100,000 cap could lead to exorbitant increases in surety bond costs or even worse, an inability to obtain a bond because banks and insurance companies will be unwilling to issue bonds in large amounts.

The bill was reported favorably from the Joint Committee on Education and has been sent to the House Ways and Means Committee. MAPCS has asked members to send a letter to their legislator to voice concern about HB 6. MAPCS has also sent a letter to the members of the Ways and Means Committee

MAPCS Letter to House Ways and Means

House Ways and Means List

Surety Bond Fact Sheet

Click here to find your legislator.

CCA Seeks Alternative To Gainful Employment Proposal

The U.S. Department of Education has proposed new rules that would change the definition of “gainful employment” and impose sanctions on programs where student debt to earnings ratio exceed eight percent. The proposal would limit access to post secondary education in high demand fields such as nursing, education, and technology, particularly for working adults and lower income students who are not part of the traditional higher education system.  The Department wants to protect students from borrowing too much money relative to likely earnings.  While CCA also wants to protect students they believe that the proposal has unintended and undesirable consequences.

CCA has offered an alternative proposal that would require that schools provide students with more information about potential occupations, wages and indebtedness.  If you want to help CCA ensure that their more reasonable approach is enacted please send a letter to your representatives in congress.   A link to additional information and a CCA sample letter is below.

Letter to Secretary Duncan

CCA Sample Letter

Talking Points

Click here to find your congressman.

Click here to find your senator.

MAPCS Members Can Now Save Money At Staples!

MAPCS has partnered with Staples Advantage to offer member savings on office supplies. With StaplesLInk.com you can now order supplies electronically and save time and money. Click on the link below to start saving today!

Staples Advantage

January 2010

The Massachusetts Office of Proprietary Schools is looking for assistance with teach-outs for students affected by ComputerTraining's closure.

Below please find a link to a document that shows the status of each of CT's classes. Three classes were affected for a total of 52 students between the Burlington and Quincy campuses. A link to the Guidelines for Teach-Outs is also below. These were written for school-to-school teach-outs, but much of the same principles apply.

You may want to investigate whether there are any tax benefits to providing a teach-out to help offset its costs.  You may also consider one of the options below, both of which begin with the possibility of accepting as transfer the courses students completed with the closed school:

• Provide full teach-outs to affected students at no cost to students.  If students take this option, they will not be eligible to file a claim against the bond, thus significantly lowering the total amount of claims. 

• Provide partial teach-outs to affected students for a nominal fee.  If students take this option, they will be eligible to file a claim against the bond only for the amount paid to your school, thus slightly lowering the total amount of claims.
  
  There is no limit to the number of schools that may opt to provide teachouts. If you are interested in participating please contact Mary Jayne Fay. Her contact information is below.
  
  Mary Jayne Fay, Ed.D.
  Coordinator of Adult Basic Education Teacher Licensure and Proprietary Schools Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education
  75 Pleasant Street Malden, MA 02148
  Phone: 781-338-6048
  Fax: 781-338-6608
  mjfay@doe.mass.edu

ComputerTraining

Teach-Out Guidelines

MAPCS Newsletter

Fall 2009

Winter 2009

September 2009

MAPCS Members Voice Concern About Surety Bond Cap Removal

During a meeting with Thomas Meagher from the Office of the State Auditor, MAPCS members expressed concern about legislation that would repeal the one hundred thousand dollar cap on surety bonds and other forms of indemnification for business, correspondence and trade schools.The legislation, HB 6, An Act Relative to Financial Requirements of Business, Correspondence and Trade Schools, was referred to the Joint Committee on Higher Education and discharged and re-referred to the Joint Committee on Education.

MAPCS members argued against the repeal noting that an open ended bond could result in an exorbitant increase in their costs.

Read a copy of the HB 6

CCA Legislative Reports

Please find a link below to the most recent CCA Legislative Report.

May 1, 2010

March 16, 2010

January 30, 2010