President Joe Biden’s Department of Education is looking to crack down on online classes for higher education, barring thousands of students from completing programs.
The move comes after Democrats used online courses during the coronavirus lockdowns, harming students in the process.
This time, however, the motive appears to be different.
February guidance from the Education Department would classify “online program managers” — the companies that host the courses for schools — as “third-party vendors” meaning they would be subjected to heavy regulation and the threat of being shut down.
The left has targeted these program managers for a long time, accusing them of exploitation and condemning their profit motive.
“Online education has the potential to meet the needs of many students and lower costs,” Under Secretary James Kvaal said of the rule change. “But we are concerned about the growth in loan debt and want to ensure students get value for their money.”
The move appears to be part of a push to answer “concerns about the impact of OPM partnerships on rising student debt loads,” as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) put it.
House Education and Workforce Committee chair Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) called out the Biden administration for putting such arduous barriers on Americans completing coursework online.
“It is reckless for the Department to suggest providing access to online education is a main driver of federal student loan debt,” she said in a February press release.. “Instead, innovations in postsecondary education, including online education, have broken through access barriers for many adult learners.”
Coming after programs and schools that make it easier for adults to complete certifications and coursework is a mainstay for the Biden administration.
As Breitbart News reported, the Biden administration is coordinating with Democrat operatives with a history of pushing harmful education regulations and strengthening their friends at leftist universities.
The Department of Education has also come after career colleges — which offer job training for veterans, minorities, and working-class families — for similar reasons.
In implementing the “gainful employment” test — a vestige of the Obama administration targeting career colleges — the administration sought to track how much debt a career college would leave a student as compared to the amount of money they made post-graduation. Given the results, financial aid was to end for colleges that left their students in a high amount of debt with a low amount of post-graduation return.
However, those same metrics are not imposed on universities that offer unmarketable degrees.
Breccan F. Thies is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @BreccanFThies.
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