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  4. For-Profit apr2017

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    The NCAA is an organization full of hypocrisies. It rakes in billions of dollars, but says there’s no money to pay the student-athletes. It works overtime to appease high-dollar corporate sponsors, but won’t let a star basketball player accept any perks. It routinely looks the other way when it comes to abuse scandals, and marginalizes its female athletes, all while running commercials focused on safety and equality.
    6 years ago by @prophe
     
      for-profitPhoenix_UniversityNCAAathleticsApr2017English
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      As the Trump administration tries to roll back education regulations, one city is attempting to stay a move ahead by fortifying its own protections for some college students. The Milwaukee Common Council unanimously passed legislation last week to prohibit financial assistance to for-profit institutions unless they meet federal financial aid regulations. The legislation, which updates a previous rule, means the city won’t provide monetary aid to for-profits or to related development projects if the involved colleges fail to meet federal financial aid regulations that were in force on Jan. 1, 2017, before Trump's inauguration. “Considering the leadership change at the federal level and who is now over the Education Department and her relationship with private for-profit colleges, it was thought that the federal guidelines could change, and our ordinance was predicated on what the federal guidelines were at that time,” said Alderwoman Milele Coggs, who sponsored the legislation. “So if those guidelines change, it doesn’t affect the standard we set as a city for education.” Coggs said Milwaukee has a right to be concerned about the types of education institutions that want to do business there. The original ordinance was put into effect following the 2009 arrival of Everest College, which received development money from the city. “We had major reservations about them coming in here, and we put them through the paces and [made them] jump through a series of hoops to demonstrate they could be successful in serving students,” said David Dies, executive secretary of the Wisconsin Educational Approval Board, the state’s for-profit oversight agency. Coggs said she and other residents in the city also had reservations about Everest. But the institution eventually opened its doors with the help of $11 million in bonds from the city’s redevelopment authority, she said. It wasn’t too long after Everest opened that the EAB noticed problems. “They only operated here about 18 months, and early on we started sensing issues based
      6 years ago by @prophe
       
        for-profitApr2017USAregulateDonald_TrumpMilwaukee
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        The state has 11 of the schools, and a hearing is scheduled for Monday on a bill requiring annual reviews of them by the State Board of Education. AUGUSTA — A new report finds students at for-profit colleges in Maine carry much heavier debt loads than those at public and private nonprofit colleges in the state. The non-partisan Center for Responsible Lending says the debt burden falls on low-income, female and minority students who disproportionately enroll at Maine for-profit schools. About 75 percent of students at such institutions take on student loans, compared with 66 percent and 41 percent, respectively, at private and public institutions. Meanwhile, 76 percent of students are women and 8 percent are African-American. The report found 60 percent of students received federal Pell Grants, which are awarded to those with low incomes. “One of the things we see consistently across the board: Students who attend for-profit colleges are burdened more by debt,” said Whitney Barkley-Denney, legislative policy counsel for the nonprofit organization. Maine’s student borrowing figures closely track national data. In the 2011-2012 school year, 73 percent of students at for-profit colleges took out loans, according to the Brookings Institution. Career Education Colleges and Universities, the for-profit higher education sector’s primary trade association, didn’t respond to requests for comment. Several for-profit schools have been the subject of state and federal investigations in recent years and faced lawsuits alleging deception in advertising and recruiting tactics. The industry has declined since rising from 650,000 students in 2000 to 2.5 million students in 2010, and several have closed down, leaving students with debt. In January, federal officials said hundreds of programs at for-profit colleges are at risk of losing federal funding unless their graduates start earning better wages. However, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has said she would take another look at the so-called “gainful employment” federal r
        6 years ago by @prophe
         
          Maine_USAfor-profitstudent_debtApr2017English
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          Purdue University’s plan to buy for-profit Kaplan University to expand its reach is the latest twist on an old idea: boost enrollment by attracting students online.
          6 years ago by @prophe
           
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            Purdue University held its first classes on its Indiana campus in 1874 and was ranked as the sixtieth best undergraduate university and twentieth best public university in US News and World Report’s most recent list. The University particularly excels in science and engineering, supplying a substantial number of NASA’s past astronauts, including Neil Armstrong. Kaplan University began offering online courses in 2003 as part of The Washington Post Company’s growing education division. Kaplan was started as a test prep company in 1938 by Stanley Kaplan. When The Washington Post was making more money than it knew what to do with, it purchased Kaplan in 1984 and grew it to an education empire that included brick and mortar campuses, an online university, international schools, and test preparation materials. By 2010, Kaplan was doing $2.9 billion in revenue, but then the landscape dramatically changed for for-profit education companies as they became accused of aggressive sales techniques and poor educational quality. Donald Graham, the Post Company’s CEO, defended for-profit institutions in his 2010 letter to shareholders, by arguing that its student population was more likely to face challenges because Kaplan was providing access to at-risk student populations, but that adjusting for these risk factors, for-profit schools were often better than their non-profit counterparts. Whether or not he was right, it became clear as time passed that he had lost the war. After the Graham sold the namesake newspaper to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the name of the company owning Kaplan changed to The Graham Holdings Company. The deal allows Purdue to create a separate, online university with little investment in technology and infrastructure. The University will pay Graham Holdings $1 initially, but up to 12.5% of the university’s revenues. The deal also involves 32,000 students compared to the 40,000 currently enrolled at Purdue. After the deal closes, only The University of Maryland would have more online students among publi
            6 years ago by @prophe
             
              buyUSAfor-profitIndiana_public-privatepublic-private_partnershipApr2017English
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              How do you turn a for-profit college into a not-for-profit? Partner with a public university—and pay $50 million for the privilege. That’s basically what happened on Thursday, in a financial deal between the for-profit Kaplan higher-education chain and Purdue University, the flagship Indiana college run by Mitch Daniels, the state’s former governor. The arrangement may help Kaplan parent Graham Holdings Inc. shed the for-profit education sector’s tarnished reputation. Purdue—paying Graham only a symbolic $1—immediately enters the ranks of public universities expanding their reach with online degrees targeting older Americans—many of them minorities—who are unable to attend traditional schools. “We thought it would be a bad idea for us to build this on our own,” said Daniels, Purdue’s president. “We’ve seen a lot of schools throw a lot of money at online education without much result.” Under the contract, Graham will transfer Kaplan University’s online programs, as well as its 15 campuses and learning centers—with 32,000 students—to the Purdue-related non-for-profit. Kaplan will then operate them and guarantee that Purdue’s venture, for five years, receive at least $10 million a year from its revenues after expenses. After that payment, Kaplan is entitled to reimbursement for its own cost of providing services, plus a fee equal to 12.5 percent of the Purdue affiliate’s revenues. Kaplan Higher Education reported $617 in revenue last year and almost $67 million in operating income. Kaplan was once the crown jewel of Washington Post Co., as its fast-growing colleges helped support its financially struggling newspaper. In 2013, the company sold the Post to Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos and then changed the name of the company to Graham Holdings, after the Washington family that had long controlled the paper. Donald Graham, then the Post Co. chief executive officer, is still the Graham Holdings chairman. For-profit colleges including Kaplan have seen their fortunes dim amid scrutiny from Congress and state
              6 years ago by @prophe
               
                Kaplanfor-profitpublic-privatepublic-private_partnershipApr2017EnglishUSA
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                Indiana public higher education institution eyes for-profit online provider’s technological expertise A for-profit online university will be converted into a “non-profit, public-benefit” organisation under the terms of its acquisition by a US public university. Kaplan University – which is owned by Kaplan Inc, a subsidiary of the Graham Holdings Company – is to be purchased by Purdue University, a statement from the Indiana-based institution confirmed on 27 April. Under the sale’s conditions, Purdue University will take on Kaplan University’s 32,000 students, 3,000 staff and 15 campuses and learning centres. KU will become a new non-profit university, connected to Purdue and bearing a version of its name. A corporate filing by Graham Holdings Company stated that the transfer of assets would create a “new, non-profit, public-benefit corporation affiliated with Purdue…[which] will operate as a new Indiana public university…focused on expanding access to education for non-traditional adult learners”. Mitch Daniels, Purdue’s president, said that KU's expertise in delivering online education had been attractive. “None of us knows how fast or in what direction online higher education will evolve, but we know that its role will grow, and we intend that Purdue be positioned to be a leader as that happens,” he said. “A careful analysis made it clear that we are very ill-equipped to build the necessary capabilities ourselves, and that the smart course would be to acquire them if we could. We were able to find exactly what we were looking for.” The new institution, which will consist of the seven schools and colleges comprising KU – save for the School of Professional and Continuing Education – will have its own institutional accreditation and will be governed by its own board of trustees, which will “fully control” its functions. Purdue, which will appoint the members to the board of trustees, will provide “key non-academic operations support” to the new university for an initial 30 years, with a buyout option after
                6 years ago by @prophe
                 
                  Kaplanfor-profitpublic-privatepublic-private_partnershipnon-profitApr2017EnglishUSA
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                  With a surprise deal to acquire the for-profit Kaplan University, announced on Thursday, Purdue University has leapfrogged into the thick of the competitive online-education market. Purdue plans to oversee the institution as a new piece of its public-university system — a free-standing arm that will cater to working adults and other nontraditional students. The purchase, conceived and executed in just five and a half months, puts Purdue in position to become a major force in an online landscape increasingly dominated by nonprofit institutions. Until now, said Purdue’s president, Mitch Daniels, the university "has basically been a spectator to this growth" in distance education, with just a few online graduate programs. Mr. Daniels, a former Republican governor of Indiana, described the acquisition as adding a "third dimension" to Purdue, along with its research-rich flagship in West Lafayette, Ind., and its regional campuses. For Kaplan and its parent company, Graham Holdings, the deal offers a potentially profitable exit strategy for an operation that has seen its bottom line battered for several years by falling enrollments. (Kaplan now has 32,000 students.) The contrast between the typical Purdue student and the military veterans, lower-income students, and members of minority groups who make up much of the enrollment at the open-access Kaplan is "stark," said Mr. Daniels. But he said the university has a responsibility to serve such students. Millions of Americans have some or no college credits, and Purdue can’t fulfill its land-grant mission "while ignoring a need so plainly in sight," he noted while unveiling the deal at a Board of Trustees meeting on Thursday. The potential financial upsides were also clearly a factor. In an interview with The Chronicle, Mr. Daniels said it was "too soon" to talk about revenue projections. "We have hope and reason for hope" that Purdue’s new acquisition will do well, he said, alluding to the fast pace of online growth at other nonprofit institutions, like Western Gover
                  6 years ago by @prophe
                   
                    Kaplannon-profitfor-profitpublic-privatepublic-private_partnershipbuyUSAIndianaEnglishApr2017
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                    The students framed their enrollment in a for-profit as having stemmed from a desire to gain confidence, reach their potential, take charge of their lives, and shed social labels associated with a lack of a college degree. ----- What leads more than 7 percent of the nation’s college students to enroll at for-profit institutions? Much of the discussion of higher education’ proprietary sector assumes that its member schools enroll students who are academically marginal and lack other options. That’s far too simplistic, a new study concludes. The study’s authors are two scholars from the University of Pittsburgh: Linda DeAngelo, an assistant professor of higher education, and Molly M. McClelland, a doctoral student in administrative and policy studies there. They based their analysis on extensive interviews with 19 students who had attended two-year, for-profit colleges before enrolling in a private, four-year, urban college. The students ranged in age from 20 to 60 and were diverse in terms of their race, ethnicity, gender, and major. Contrary to common stereotypes, the two researchers say, their subjects generally saw their experience with a for-profit college as positive, and said little that traced their decision to enroll in it to poor academic performance in high school. Generally, they framed their enrollment in a for-profit as having stemmed from a desire to gain confidence, reach their potential, take charge of their lives, and shed social labels associated with a lack of a college degree. In keeping with standard research protocol, the researchers name neither their subjects nor the private college where the study took place. They caution that their study’s results might have been skewed by its focus on students who were successful enough to move on to a four-year institution. The researchers also stress that their findings should not be perceived as an endorsement of the for-profit sector, which continues to have low graduation rates and includes colleges that leave students heavily indebted and faci
                    6 years ago by @prophe
                     
                      for-profitUSAApr2017English
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                      Purdue University in Indiana announced plans Thursday to start a new online school by acquiring for-profit Kaplan University, one of the top destinations for military students and veterans. The unlikely relationship between a public land-grant university and a for-profit school stems from “mutual interests and goals” and a shared desire to expand access to education, according to the terms of the agreement between Purdue and Kaplan’s parent company, Graham Holdings. “None of us knows how fast or in what direction online higher education will evolve, but we know its role will grow, and we intend that Purdue be positioned to be a leader as that happens,” Purdue President Mitch Daniels said in a statement. “A careful analysis made it clear that we are very ill-equipped to build the necessary capabilities ourselves, and that the smart course would be to acquire them if we could. We were able to find exactly what we were looking for.” According to information provided by Purdue, the university’s feasibility studies indicated it would take 36 months to create a single degree program and much longer to create an online school of the magnitude it is acquiring with Kaplan. With Kaplan comes 32,000 students, 3,000 employees and 15 campuses and learning centers throughout the Midwest and East Coast that will fall under Purdue when the acquisition becomes official. The process could take several months, according to Kaplan Inc. spokesman Mark Harrad, as the U.S. Department of Education, state agencies and the institutions’ accreditor agencies still need to sign off. A Military Times analysis of fiscal year 2015 federal data show Kaplan Higher Education Corp. was the 11th most popular destination for active-duty service members using tuition assistance benefits and the 18th most popular school for Post-9/11 GI Bill users. That corporation consisted of Kaplan University, which Purdue acquired, as well as several smaller schools that are no longer part of the company and weren't part of the deal. But Kaplan University acc
                      6 years ago by @prophe
                       
                        for-profitnon-profitKaplanpublic-privatepublic-private_partnershipbuyApr2017EnglishUSAIndiana
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                        In a move that has raised eyebrows with higher education experts, a well-regarded public university has forged a deal with a for-profit college. Purdue University announced Thursday that it has paid $1 up front to acquire assets from Kaplan University in an attempt to expand its offerings in online education targeted toward adult learners. Purdue President Mitch Daniels said at a Board of Trustees meeting Thursday that the Indiana university wants to be a leader as online education continues to grow, but that it wasn’t capable of doing that on its own. “Today’s agreement moves us from a standing start to a leading position,” Daniels said in a statement. Purdue will turn Kaplan into a yet-to-be-named new public university that will, for the time being, continue offering the same set of academic programs. Kaplan’s 3,000 employees will be transferred, as will its 32,000 students. Purdue says it will take over the academic side of the operation, while Kaplan will continue non-academic services, including marketing and student recruitment. The new university will be self-sufficient and run off of tuition revenue and fundraising. Students will pay Kaplan's existing tuition and fees, although Purdue said Indiana students may receive an in-state discount. Trouble-Plagued Industry While Kaplan has one of the stronger names in for-profit education, the industry has faced years of declining enrollment, heightened regulations, legal battles, and broad criticism for loading students up with debt and providing meaningless degrees. At Kaplan itself, enrollment fell 22% in 2016 and its revenue is down 40% from 2014, according to an annual report from Graham Holdings, which owns Kaplan. As David Halperin, a policy analyst who writes about for-profit colleges, points out in a piece on Huffington Post, Kaplan has been investigated by or settled cases -- some for more than $1 million -- with attorneys general in Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, and North Carolina, as well as with the U.S. Departments of Education and Just
                        6 years ago by @prophe
                         
                          for-profitnon-profitbuypublic-privatepublic-private_partnershipEnglishUSAIndianaApr2017
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                          About 2,000 Kentucky students are eligible for debt relief after getting loans to take online classes through the for-profit Corinthian Colleges Inc., Attorney General Andy Beshear announced Thursday. In Kentucky, the company solicited students under the name Everest College and Everest University. Corinthian also marketed its WyoTech career training program throughout the state. Beshear’s office is notifying eligible students by letter of the cancellation of the federal student loans they used to attend Corinthian schools. Students whose federal loans are canceled will not have to make further payments on the loan and any payments made by the student will be refunded. “As attorney general, my mission is to protect Kentucky’s families from consumer fraud, especially the ongoing deception by for-profit colleges like Corinthian,” Beshear said. “We must do everything in our power to ensure eligible Kentucky students get all the debt relief from fraudulent Corinthian loans.” Federal and state investigators examined Corinthian’s job placement rates, alleging that the company falsified those rates between 2010 and 2014. Currently, Corinthian is not allowed to enroll students and is only remaining open to “teach out” current students. Beshear’s letter will go to Kentucky students who fall within the U.S. Department of Education’s findings of fraud concerning Corinthian, and who are eligible for a special “streamlined” process to discharge their federal student loans. Any student, however, who attended Corinthian Colleges or any other school and believes the school lied about job prospects, the transferability of credits or other issues may apply to have his or her federal student loans discharged using the Department of Education’s universal discharge application at https://borrowerdischarge.ed.gov. More information is available at https://studentaid.ed.gov/borrower-defense. Beshear said Kentucky and states across the country are keeping pressure on the federal government to honor their commitment to help student
                          6 years ago by @prophe
                           
                            for-profitdebtrelieffinancial_aidCorinthian_CollegesApr2017USAKentucky_English
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                            For-profit universities in the US have a record of aggressive marketing practices, poor completion rates, and producing graduates with uncertain job prospects and high levels of debt. So why would Purdue University, a state university in Indiana founded in 1869, buy Kaplan University, a for-profit institution with a record of federal investigations and lawsuits from former students? Purdue is eager to offer online education, and acquiring Kaplan was cheaper that building a new system form scratch, Purdue president Mitch Daniels said in a statement. The school doesn’t have to pay anything upfront, and “will enter into a long-term transition and support agreement, with a buy-out option after year six,” according to a FAQ page. For-profit universities in the US have a record of aggressive marketing practices, poor completion rates, and producing graduates with uncertain job prospects and high levels of debt. So why would Purdue University, a state university in Indiana founded in 1869, buy Kaplan University, a for-profit institution with a record of federal investigations and lawsuits from former students? Purdue is eager to offer online education, and acquiring Kaplan was cheaper that building a new system form scratch, Purdue president Mitch Daniels said in a statement. The school doesn’t have to pay anything upfront, and “will enter into a long-term transition and support agreement, with a buy-out option after year six,” according to a FAQ page. Public universities have been forced to become more entrepreneurial as states have dramatically cut funding. It’s no surprise that Daniels, the former Republican governor of Indiana who slashed the state’s higher-ed budget, would be pushing Purdue to find new sources of revenue. Still, it’s an unexpected turn in American higher education, with a market-driven disruptor swallowed by the stodgy old incumbents. But it may be that the for-profit executives just misread the market signals: Students, it seems, didn’t just want convenient education; they also wanted it to be p
                            6 years ago by @prophe
                             
                              for-profitnon-profitbuyKaplanIndianaApr2017USAEnglishpublic-privatepublic-private_partnership
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