For-profit colleges collected $32 billion from the federal government in the 2010-11 academic year, but three of those schools will now be cut off from that money.
In a speech before a group of career-college executives and lobbyists, freshman Representative Jason Altmire hinted that he would look out for the sector's interests in a coming conference between the House of Representatives and the Senate on legislation to reauthorize the Higher Education Act.
Higher-education companies have seen a mixed bag of spending sprees and lawsuits in the past several weeks, as well as the first public offering in nearly five years.
Apollo Group, the company that built the University of Phoenix into the largest university in the United States by catering to working adults, is now moving to serve younger college students.
Goldie Blumenstyk quotes Samuel C. Wood, a former assistant professor at Stanford University, as saying, "The for-profits are motivated to devote themselves to 'student acquisition' and retention" ("Why For-Profit Colleges Are Like Health Clubs," The Chronicle, May 5). What college isn't?
For-profit college representatives are fighting in federal court for the right to avoid telling students if they are likely to afford their debts after attending school.
For-profit college giant Career Education Corp. announced that it will close 23 of its 90 campuses and eliminate 900 jobs after the company reported a net loss this quarter of $33 million and a 23 percent drop in new student enrollment.
The Greek Parliament passed a controversial education bill this month that sparked rioting in the streets of Athens. Police said it was the worst unrest the city had seen for years. At least 20 people were injured, 47 were detained, and 11 were arrested, the Associated Press reported.
Finances continued to wilt at public and private colleges during the past year as income streams slowed and budget managers turned up the heat. Yet for-profit institutions -- both publicly traded and privately held -- posted record gains. Revenues of the top 10 publicly traded higher-education companies grew in excess of 30 percent.
A battle is being waged in California over the degree to which for-profit colleges should be regulated, a fight that could ultimately ripple out to affect other states.
Four years ago, during the last presidential election, James "Bill" Heavener, CEO and co-chairman of the for-profit Full Sail University, served as a major source of campaign contributions for Barack Obama's presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee, raising nearly $100,000 alongside members of his family.
With college enrollments mushrooming in many nations but public support generally unable to keep up, the world is seeing a historic swing from public to private financing of higher education, the report says.
Digital-Vending Services International, a company linked to a nonprofit educational group with ties to the U.S. military, has filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against three for-profit online higher-education institutions.
A major for-profit distance-education company has signed a licensing deal with the Acacia Research Corporation, which claims to own patents that cover all online audio- and video-streaming technologies. Officials at Acacia would not disclose the terms of the deal, but noted that institutions on average would pay $5,000 a year.
For the next 20 years, Matt Foist will be paying off his $46,000 in cooking-school loans, and all he says he has to show for it is a useless chef's diploma, a nice set of knives - but no job.
Students attending for-profit colleges wind up with much higher student-loan debts, are less likely to be employed after graduation and generally earn less than similar students at public or private nonprofit schools, according to a recent paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research.
The rapid growth of for-profit colleges over the past decade has been aided by billion-dollar ad campaigns on daytime television, the Internet and highway billboards across the country.
A trade group has filed suit in federal court to block a series of U.S. Department of Education rules that would increase regulatory scrutiny over segments of higher education.