The word is out. It's out at the federal, state, and accrediting levels. It's out at the local level through word of mouth and now the media. Too many career schools have forgotten that we're in the business of training our students to be professionally competitive and realize true success not only in the workplace, but in life. The average career school student typically chooses a proprietary school over a traditional two-to four-year school for one or more of three primary reasons. One, because the completion time is shorter; two, because the course(s) offered is really what they want to do; and/or three, because they couldn't get into a traditional institution.
That's reality - we as career school professionals know it and our students know it. This is our business, to promote and influence competitiveness and success in our students. Unfortunately, the spotlight is now on those career schools who have been more interested in growth, acquisition, and increased profit; and that should cause the other schools to begin to invest heartily in staff members and instructors who are truly committed to the core values of student success. We can no longer afford to hire staff members who look good on paper and can interview well but do not involve themselves in the student success process.
We can no longer afford to hire instructors who use career schools as a default for employment because they couldn't cut it in the corporate sector. Many of them have the same issues that our students have and cannot manage their own lives; therefore, they are often ill-equipped for student intervention.
We can no longer afford for school executives, directors, and managers to publish a "feel good" mission statement, yet their subsequent actions paint an entirely different picture. The word is out and it's a word with which true educators can no longer afford to be associated.
