Surprising New Rationale for the Hillsdale Move

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Jonathan Whatley, Jan 28, 2025.

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  1. Jonathan Whatley

    Jonathan Whatley Well-Known Member

    The 1984 Supreme Court decision Grove City College v. Bell upheld broad federal power to regulate private colleges on the basis of their receiving federal Title IV student aid.

    In response, several conservative Christian private colleges withdrew from federal Title IV student aid entirely so as to free themselves from socially liberal federal regulation. A recent list of conservative Christian colleges abstaining from Title IV includes Hillsdale College (likely the most famous for their doing this), Grove City College itself, Christendom College, Pensacola Christian College, and Patrick Henry College. At least one Orthodox Jewish seminary apparently abstains for similar reasons.

    Regulars here are also very familiar with U.S. colleges which while eligible thanks to their accreditation, abstain from Title IV student aid so as to maintain, broadly, lean business models that Title IV requirements might make untenable. These include the American College of Education and Penn Foster College, both for-profit.

    Now threatened federal regulation is coming from the other side.
    Trump Staffs Ed ucation Department to Upend University DEI Programs (Dhruv T. Patel and Grace E. Yoon, The Harvard Crimson, January 28, 2025)

    Scalise seems to be addressing accreditation and Title IV certification as the same thing, but they're separate.

    Harvard for example could drop Title IV tomorrow. It would then be much less subject to federal regulations. It would continue to exist as a school with its Massachusetts state charter, and I'm confident an institutional accrediting agency would continue to accredit it. It would have large income streams – albeit less to start with, but some it could find new ways to grow – and large savings.

    The federal government could threaten those savings with an endowment tax. This would be opposed for different reasons by libertarian and moderate Republicans and by all Democrats. And good luck getting the courts to uphold a "tax" so narrowly written that it constitutes expropriating or nationalizing long-term assets from a charitable private institution.

    Some colleges with Title IV today would continue to have a viable business model, if a different one, without Title IV.

    Will one or more make the jump by virtue of opposition to new federal regulation?

    A college opposed to new federal regulation could also stay in Title IV and potentially fight the regulation in court. I'm sure that's what most will do.
     
    Last edited: Jan 28, 2025
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  2. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    It begets the question whether he's aware of that.
     
    Jonathan Whatley likes this.
  3. FireMedic_Philosopher

    FireMedic_Philosopher Active Member

    It begets the question whether his 20 something research intern is aware of it. I highly doubt Scalise himself knows either way.
     

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