This morning, 140,000 Coloradans woke up and headed to school to change their lives by learning a new skill or profession. For these Coloradans, “school” is not one of the 30 statewide public institutions of higher education many of us know so well. Instead, they are paying good money to learn new job skills by attending private occupational schools often housed in large office buildings or small studios.
It’s an important transaction that is essential to our economy, allowing Coloradans to retool or find new purpose at critical junctures in their lives.
But every now and again, that basic transaction can go awry. In 2014, several automotive students in Pueblo realized they had each paid $24,000 to a program that wasn’t teaching the promised curriculum and didn’t have the equipment they said they’d be trained on. In Littleton, a hair-dressing academy went out of business, leaving 22 students in the lurch. In 2010, a school owner died and his program was unable to carry on. In each of these cases, further tragedy was avoided with the support of the state. Over the past five years, Colorado’s Division of Private Occupational Schools (DPOS) has facilitated nearly $300,000 in refund claims and train-outs.
The Colorado General Assembly charges the Private Occupational School (POS) Board, which I chair, to oversee for-profit institutions and ensure that students who are enrolled in vocational training programs receive the education marketed to them. I see the value that the peace of mind can bring to an industry. Students can rest assured that their investment is protected. Businesses can easily demonstrate their credentials by fulfilling a few basic requirements.
Our oversight consists of simple safeguards that ensure consumers have recourse in the event that things go wrong. First, we require vocational training programs to take out a surety bond. When students don’t get what they paid for, this ensures that they can get their money back. Second, we make sure that the curriculum for the classes is as promised. A student should be able to graduate from a dental hygiene program confident that they’ll know everything required of them to get a job in a dentist’s office. A bartending student should know how to fix a martini and understand how to keep their bar clean.
Some programs, like truck driving and cosmetology schools, seem perfectly within the realm of what should be regulated. Others seem obscure, making for great fodder at cocktail parties. Yoga teacher training, which we have overseen since 2002, has become the most recent example of an industry that attracts public dialogue. We all chuckle at the notion that such businesses should have requirements they need to meet, but unique as their work may be — these are businesses, training teachers in return for real money.
The limited budget of DPOS means that we often find out about businesses that fall within our oversight long after they’ve opened their doors. I don’t envy the role our staff must play, informing these businesses of their obligations and applying state law equitably and without prejudice. Regulation must be fair and the law followed. These are the kinds of functions that we all take for granted and seem burdensome when taken out of context. It is only in retrospect that a surety bond makes sense. It is only when tragedy strikes or a bad actor appears that we see the value of our board and the DPOS.
My colleagues and I take great pride in the service we perform on behalf of our fellow Coloradans. Our legislature has clearly defined our mission. We put consumers who are often trying to make wise choices about how they invest in themselves at ease. Without question, our role and the industries we oversee will change over time.
We look to the legislature to help us adapt so that we can continue to maintain the integrity of this important corner of the economy and continue to give every Coloradan the confidence to take that important step into the next chapter of their career.
Steven Steele is board chair of the Division of Private Occupational Schools at the Colorado Department of Higher Education.
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