Attorney General Martha Coakley has filed proposed amendments to existing regulations that will affect the way all private post-secondary schools operate in Massachusetts.

The regulations are very broad reaching and in some cases overly burdensome and duplicative.  The proposed regulations address a host of issues including advertising, recruitment, earnings, student loans, placement rates, graduation rates, faculty qualifications and classroom instruction.

Some schools in Massachusetts will not be able to adhere to these regulations and will choose instead to close.  School closings could disproportionately harm non-traditional and lower-income students who rely upon schools like yours as a pathway to their own career success.

This will negatively impact employers as well who would be left with a reduced trained workforce and could lead to higher unemployment as teachers and administrators lose their jobs.

For other institutions these regulations will mean that their schools will be forced to juggle between several set of guidelines including their accreditor, the Department of Professional Licensure and the Attorney General's office. 

If you want to protect your school, your employees and your students we urge you to attend one of the two public hearing scheduled on the proposed regulations.

The first will be in Boston on Tuesday, January 7, 2014 from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. at the Leverett Saltonstall Building, 100 Cambridge Street, 2nd Floor, Room C.  

A second hearing will take place in Springfield on Thursday, January 9, 2014 from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. at the Santander Bank Building, 1350 Main Street, 3rd Floor, Room A. 

We know it is the holiday season and you are busy with other things, but please take the time to read the regulations and prepare to attend and testify at the public hearings.

We can make a difference if all of the private post-secondary schools make their voices heard in writing or at the public hearings.

MAPCS is working on comments and will testify at the public hearing.  We will share these comments with you next week. Feel free to copy these for your own testimony or by all means write your own.

MAPCS will retain the services of Quinn and Morris to help the association make sure its voice is heard regarding the Attorney General's regulations.

Click here to join MAPCS online. 

Click here to download a Membership Brochure and Application.