State Regulators Let Vocational Schools Operate without Approvals
Lack of proper oversight leaves students with few protections
Students arrive at Prime Career College in Vallejo Tuesday morning, which offers vocational nursing degrees and other programs. Prime is one of 137 schools statewide whose state approvals have lapsed
Job prospects for thousands of California students are being threatened by the failure of state regulators to crack down on unapproved private vocational schools. Despite vowing to strengthen protections for Californians attending vocational nursing, technical and trade schools, and other private colleges, the regulators have allowed more than 130 schools to operate for months without state approval, according to state records.
Private vocational schools in California require the approval of the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education, established two years ago to provide stricter oversight of schools that serve 400,000 students across the state. Yet up to 10 percent of the state’s