Not all entrepreneurs need a business plan. Most start-ups succeed because the founder had an authentic vision and clarity of purpose, not a well-written document. While not all planning is bad, the content that most business plans focus on has little to do with the reality that will actually emerge. Instead of agonizing over a document, focus on identifying exactly why your business should exist. Clearly articulate the bigger goal at hand, whether you call it vision, purpose, or calling. This will guide you and the business. And remember that the team is more important than any plan. It’s worth spending time making sure you are working and partnering with the right people.
Loan payments at the controversial programs will now be capped at 8% of graduates' total incomeThe Obama Administration is taking aim at institutions designed to propel students into careers, but which more often than not land them deep in debt instead. On Friday, the Department of Education released new regulations that will cap loan payments for graduates of so-called "gainful employment programs" offered both at for-profit schools and community colleges to 20% of discretionary income and 8% of total income. The institutions must stick to the caps in order to continue receiving federal financial aid.
Though some of these job-training institutions properly prepare students for the work force, the majority of for-profit schools designed to propel students straight into careers do not. What's more, they also suck up tax-payer money in the form of federal student loan payments. The Department of Education estimates about 72% of graduates of for-profit programs designed to propel them straight into careers earn less than high school dropouts and can’t afford to pay their student loans. Students at for-profit colleges represent just 13% of the higher education population, but a disproportionate 31% of student loan recipients and half of those who default. Their students are also often veterans and adult students.
“Higher education should open up doors of opportunity, but students in these low-performing programs often end up worse off than before they enrolled: saddled by debt and with few – if any – options for a career,” said U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan in a statement. “The proposed regulations address growing concerns about unaffordable levels of loan debt for students enrolled in these programs by targeting the lowest-performing schools, while shining a light on best practices and giving all programs an opportunity to improve.”
He added, “Success in career education should be measured by how many students graduate prepared for a good job with sufficient earnings.”
Under the new regulation, a program will be completely ineligible for federal financial aid if it fails to meet standards for two out of three years, or for three consecutive years. Secretary Duncan says he is confident most schools will meet the standards or improve within that timeframe. The goal, he said on a conference call with reporters on Thursday, is not to eliminate the programs altogether, but to “shine a spotlight on those doing good work while making sure students and consumers are aware of those that are not."
For profit institutions can receive up to 90 percent of their revenue from taxpayer money. The Department of Education estimates gainful employment programs at those schools receive about $26 billion in federal loans and 10 billion in federal grants every year. About 8,000 institutions will be impacted by the new regulations, which also require schools to meet accreditation and licensing standards and publically disclose information about cost, debt, and program effectiveness
The new regulations come on the heels of regulations proposed in 2011 that also sought to restrict federal aid from programs that were not adequately preparing students. Those rules, which required that 35% of former students be actively repaying loans, were struck down by a federal judge in Washington.