June 21, 2010 (Arlington, VA) – The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) supports the proposed regulations issued by the U.S. Department of Education that protect students and taxpayers against unlawful recruitment practices. NACAC advocated for this critical protection during the negotiated rulemaking process that began last year.
The Department’s new proposed rules prohibiting commission, bonus, or other payment based on success in securing enrollment or financial aid are now more closely aligned with the Higher Education Act statute banning incentive compensation and NACAC’s Statement of Principles of Good Practice. Regulations known as “safe harbors” enacted in 2002 were neither necessary nor appropriate given the clarity of the law, as expressed by NACAC during the regulatory comment period at that time. In the eight years since the enactment of the regulatory safe harbors, there is evidence of widespread disregard for the incentive compensation statute, which is documented on NACAC’s Program Integrity page.
The ban on incentive compensation is a “front-end” protection for Federal student aid programs and is among the last-remaining federal protections against waste, fraud and abuse. Incentive compensation regulations reduce the motivation for institutions to use aggressive and misleading recruiting tactics to bolster enrollment.
NACAC members stress that their core principles are intended to serve the student interest as professionals, rather than salespersons, in the transition from secondary to postsecondary education. Members readily acknowledge that the number of students enrolled in a given academic year is a matter of importance to all institutions of higher education. However, reducing the basis for compensation to the number of students enrolled in any circumstance introduces an incentive for recruiters to actively ignore the student interest in the transition to postsecondary education, and invites complications similar to those that preceded the enactment of the ban on incentive compensation under the 1992 Higher Education Act reauthorization.
About NACAC:
NACAC is an Arlington, VA-based education association of more than 11,000 secondary school counselors, independent counselors, college admission and financial aid officers, enrollment managers, and organizations that work with students as they make the transition from high school to postsecondary education. The association, founded in 1937, is committed to maintaining high standards that foster ethical and social responsibility among those involved in the transition process, as outlined in the NACAC Statement of Principles of Good Practice. More information about NACAC is available at www.nacacnet.org.