Coordinating Commission Executive Director Mike Baumgartner recently testified in favor of a bill in the Legislature that would help protect Nebraska college students who attend a for-profit institution that goes out of business. Baumgartner made his comments at a hearing before the Education Committee on Jan. 24.
LB 123, introduced by Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln, would establish the Guaranty Recovery Cash Fund. This fund would require that for-profit colleges and universities with a physical presence in Nebraska contribute to a fund that would be used primarily to reimburse students attending these schools if they go out of business. Nebraska for-profit institutions would contribute one-tenth of 1 percent of their annual tuition revenue to the fund until it reached $250,000.
The Coordinating Commission would administer the fund.
Currently there are three schools in Nebraska that fall under this for-profit category: Kaplan University, with campuses in Lincoln and Omaha; the Creative Center, in Omaha; and National American University’s Bellevue campus.
The Education Committee has not voted on moving LB 123 to General File, the first of three hurdles a bill must clear before it reaches the governor for approval.