Career College Central

Subscribe at www.careercollegecentral.com 24 By Kevin Kuzma, Contributing Writer " INJUSTICE FOR ALL: THE TRUTH ABOUT THE ANNIHILATION OF AMERICAN EDUCATION IDEALS" The cover to Mary Lyn Hammer's book, "Injustice for All," looks like the first page to a secret congressional report or, at the very least, a government-focused textbook. But what gives it away as something other than those things is the first line of text at the top that reads, "A Special Report From the Desk of Mary Lyn Hammer." In this book, Hammer, who is best known throughout the career college sector as the owner, founder, president and CEO of Champion College Services, assumes the role of special government reporter or beat writer. She successfully trades in her background in other familiar territory, namely as the savvy leader of a company offering a diverse list of services to career schools. Her company's offerings show the extensive depth and breadth of her knowledge of higher education: default provision for federal and private student loans; job placement verification; skip tracing; consulting services; and custom surveys for students, alumni and employers. Some readers and others in the sector who have worked alongside Hammer at times might not realize this: She was active in aiding the Department of Education in draing language for default management that was in effect from 1989 until 1996, now known as "Subpart M." Hammer's bio also includes serving three times on the gainful employment rule-making committees and being instrumental in working with the department on regulatory language for cohort default rate appeals, school-based loan issues and the Cohort Default Rate Guide. e author's background is particularly relevant given the subject matter she tackles in "Injustice." Her experience in working closely with congressional representatives and key staff at the U.S. Department of Education on many issues over her 20-year career in the higher education industry gives a stronger voice to her opinions. e central thought in this book is that the department is taking what she believes are direct steps to eliminate the for-profit education sector from existence. Reporting also happens to be something Hammer has a knack for. She wastes no time by opening her book with a "manifesto" that explains her main points and what she plans to prove — sort of an executive summary of the facts exposing the department. You know you are in for an exciting ride when she begins her take with this: "America has become a nation where the majority of our citizens base their beliefs and opinions upon the spin from media coverage and newsfeeds that oen regurgitate unverified facts; in particular regarding data." From the outset, Hammer works to expose how the department can easily change opinions with the release of numbers and other "facts" or committee findings it controls. Hammer asserts that a horrible fate is occurring in the United States — what she describes as the annihilation of the higher education system through manipulation of facts presented to the public that provide false impressions of outcomes and performance metrics for all institutions of higher education (notice the emphasis on all, Subscribe at www.careercollegecentral.com 24

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