After four years of debate, 2006 could be the year Congress finally takes action on proposed changes in federal student-aid laws. The outcome will be a good indicator of the for-profit higher-education industry's political clout.
The Career College Association says a public-opinion poll it recently commissioned found that many Americans consider for-profit colleges and trade schools a good alternative to traditional colleges for many young people in today's economy.
After watching the for-profit-college industry blossom by aggressively expanding to online education and catering to adult students over the past decade, many traditional colleges followed suit, enjoying new revenue opportunities and greater exposure as they reached fresh pools of students.
The New York State Board of Regents last week adopted a series of new rules that will tighten state control over for-profit colleges, which have become the fastest growing sector of higher education in the state.
It is discouraging to see The Chronicle run pieces with errors of commission and omission about the for-profit sector of higher education. The most recent is Joshua Woods's "Opportunity, Ease, Encouragement, and Shame: a Short Course in Pitching For-Profit Education"
Florida's attorney general expanded his investigation of allegedly misleading sales tactics at for-profit Florida Metropolitan University, demanding records detailing the school's job-placement rates, grading, instructor qualifications, financial aid and course prices.
Education Management Corporation, which enrolls 72,000 students on 72 campuses in 24 states, agreed to sell itself last week to two private equity firms for $3.4-billion, becoming the first publicly traded higher-education company to turn private. The move triggered speculation among analysts that the deal could lead to other takeovers of for-profit colleges.
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?
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.
In the latest example of an apparent trend of private companies buying out for-profit colleges, Concorde Career Colleges Inc. announced on Wednesday that it would be acquired by an affiliate...
Other states are watching legislative debate on the future of the agency that oversees proprietary institutions A battle is being waged in California over the degree to which for-profit colleges...
The owners of Delta Educational Systems Inc. have sold the privately held company, which operates five colleges with 16 campuses, to another investor group that plans to expand the institutions...