How Rep. Burgess Owens hopes to 'modernize' distance education funding at for-profit colleges

SALT LAKE CITY — Pursuing a college education has traditionally meant gathering with professors and fellow students in classrooms and labs at brick-and-mortar campuses.

Those times have changed — and it's time to "level the playing field" and reward higher education institutions of all ilks that are responding to such changes, said Utah Rep. Burgess Owens.

Owens is a fan of for-profit colleges. He believes they can offer innovative, flexible options for would-be students who might not otherwise have access to higher education.

Much of America's traditional higher education system, he added in a conversation with the Deseret News, is outdated and not meeting student needs, particularly the needs of nontraditional students such as veterans, older adults or working parents.

Not everyone shares the congressman's enthusiasm for for-profit or proprietary colleges, arguing that they prioritize profits over students. Like any college, they are not all created equal.

But Owens counters that traditional non-profit colleges are also in the "profit" business and that students benefit when all forms of higher education can compete for students.

Students, he added, are also consumers searching for the best return on their investment. "It doesn't matter what the institution is as long as it's getting results and is merit-based, we should be supporting it," he said.

For-profit colleges: The 90/10 Rule

In an effort to "level the playing field," the former pro athlete is pushing legislation that would "modernize" restrictions placed on for-profit schools by the so-called 90/10 Rule.

Established by the Department of Education, the 90/10 Rule mandates that for-profit colleges derive at least 10% of their revenue from sources other than federal financial aid programs such as Pell Grants and Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, or SEOG.

Allowable nonfederal revenue sources currently in play at for-profit colleges to meet the 10% requirement include out-of-pocket student tuition and private scholarships.

The 90/10 Rule is designed to keep a for-profit college from becoming overly reliant upon federal dollars, and it's a measure of a for-profit school's quality and viability.

90/10 Rule: Excluding distance education revenue

But nonfederal revenue generated by a for-profit college's distance education programs — including hybrid distance education programs — cannot be included in the 10-side of the 90/10 calculation, according to the Department of Education.

Owens wants to "modernize" that 90/10 exclusion, arguing that distance education at for-profit schools opens another door to higher education and that the current restriction is inequitable.

"That's something that public schools don't have to go through — it's only the for-profit schools," said Owens. "There should be a level playing field.

Many would-be students, he added, can benefit from distance education programs offered at for-profit institutions, including older veterans who are coming out of the service and are unable to study at traditional college campuses.

"They want to be able to have their jobs and still progress with education," said Owens. "These are the kinds of things that we can do to make sure that's being accomplished."

Eliminating the distance education exemption from the 90/10 Rule will likely be considered in the coming months by Congress as part of the College Cost Reduction Act, or CCRA.

But if the provision to include distance education revenue in 90/10 is not included in the CCRA, Owens intends to introduce a stand-alone bill amending the policy. Such an amendment, he noted, "would allow for-profit schools to count distance education revenue toward 90/10," he said.

The pandemic proved that distance education can be effective, said Owens, adding that for-profit colleges should be incentivized to maximize distance education opportunities.

"As long as (for-profit colleges) are doing their job … they should be part of this equation and not excluded from it," he said.

Education: Navigating turbulence

Education, both locally and nationally, is being upended in ways not seen in decades.

In Utah, lawmakers just passed a "strategic reinvestment" bill that requires the state's public higher education institutions to increase efficiencies by reallocating a chunk of their budget to programs that best align with industry needs.

And federally, President Donald Trump hopes to shutter the Department of Education, which established the 90/10 Rule now being targeted by Owens. Meanwhile, roughly half of the agency's workforce has been sliced out since Trump's inauguration.

Today's uncertainty in American education troubles many, but not Owens.

"I have never been more excited about where we are," he said. "The whole purpose of education is to make sure our kids are the best prepared in the entire world. But for the last 40 or 50 years, the Department of Education has failed us."

Modifying the way the country manages its education system, he added, will depend upon taking the decision- and rule-making out of Washington, D.C., and allowing each state to compete for the best practices.

"We're gonna be in a position where we can start exporting talent for the rest of the world," said Owens. "We're going to have so many good, smart kids here that are ready to go out and produce."

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