Scathing Bloomberg Article from Last Fall

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This is a must read, and focuses mainly on AUC in St. Maarten.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-...al-school-rejects-as-taxpayers-fund-debt.html

Essentially, I will agree with many of the points the article makes and have reiterated here before:

• More U.S. schools opening means more opportunity for "near misses" from the U.S.
• Taxpayers should not have to fund the debt of these for-profit schools when students fail out and default
• Schools should strive to be more selective in who they admit as well identifying and cutting loose those students who have a low likelihood of future success before they amass too much debt

But, I think it is a little harsh to characterize these students as "rejects". Many simply did not get into a U.S. school for various reasons. Not all will fail out. Many will succeed with lucrative careers paying back their loans, like myself, as well as providing a valuable service to the community they live in.

Interesting graphic...

-Skip

 

[wolfvgang22]

Thanks for posting this, Skip. I remember reading this article last fall and I think it's a good read when read with a critical eye.

The article is good, mainly from the perspective that most U.S. media aren't usually even this balanced in their appraisal of Caribbean medical schools. A lot of this article is one-sided protectionist belly-aching from the AMA and U.S. medical schools. They don't like any competition, at all. That's nothing new. I'm not surprised a Bloomberg reporter is biased towards the AMA and AAMC, which are powerful organizations. I do appreciate the author including some less biased data in the graphic that includes not just data from the AAMC but also from DeVry.

The headline is sensationalist click-bait. The only examples of Caribbean medical students the author gives is a few train-wreck students that the author uses to make Caribbean students look like pitiful, flaky cautionary tales. The author doesn't give any success stories. As the graphic shows, more than 80% of Ross and AUC students do Match, so there are many successes.

DeVry's Chairman Shapiro at least gets the last word from the author, telling it how it is: “You can go or not go. You have to make your own judgments.”
If you want to be a doctor, do your due diligence. Look at all your options carefully, realistically, and dispassionately, weighing all the pros and cons of this important business decision.

Sen. Dick Durbin has had it out for DeVry and by extension other Caribbean schools for a long time. DeVry probably doesn't contribute to his campaign fund, and may support his political opponents in the Republican party. If DeVry didn't before, they probably do now. Hating on Caribbean medical schools and IMG's is easy political points Illinois and Texas, both states that struggle with an influx of illegal immigrants. Criticizing foreign education falls under the heading of "keep out them darn foreigners", in how it plays to uninformed voters.

 

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I agree 100% with your assessment.

-Skip

 

[Del Caribe]

While there are certainly graduates and drop-outs from AUC, Ross, and SGU who fail to land a career in medicine, the number of people who actually default on their loans is relatively low. According to the US Department of Education, the loan repayment default rate at AUC is 1.1%, while it is 0.4% at Ross, and 0.8% at SGU. This is well within the requirements needed for the schools to keep their Title IV federal financial aid eligibility. I would be curious to see how the loan default rates compare with those at US medical schools. I would imagine the government still making a positive gain through the interest paid by the 98.9%+ of the financial aid borrowers from AUC, Ross, and SGU who do repay their loans on time, in comparison to the less than 1.1% that default.

 

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Part of the reason for this probably is that, with rare exception, you are no longer exempted from school loan repayment via Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy regulations.

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/student-loan-debt-bankruptcy.html

Something else to keep in mind.

-Skip