Giving Compass' Take:

• Nick Ducoff argues that we need to do more to protect students from college closures rather than prioritize failing institutions. 

• How can funders work to protect students from failing institutions? 

• Learn about racial disparities in student loan debt default. 

Why are we protecting failing institutions and not the very students who will be the ones that pay the price — literally — for their college closures?

College closures affect a lot of people — students, alumni, faculty and administrators, taxpayers and the broader community — but there’s little information available on which colleges might close in the next few years. In the wake of Mount Ida College’s closure, students had to scramble to find alternative institutions, and some were unable to transfer their credits or enroll in similar degree programs. A judge ruled against former students who sued the school.

I recall being upset when I realized that I had $100 in Blockbuster gift cards that had no value after Blockbuster closed. Imagine having spent $100,000 or more on a degree — or, worse still, being a few credits short of a degree — from an institution that then goes defunct.

As a former university vice president, I want colleges to succeed. But, more importantly, I want students to succeed.  Students and families are right to question whether the colleges and their associations fighting the release of publicly available information have that same priority.

Read the full article about protecting failing institutions by Nick Ducoff at The Hechinger Report.