Comments on Sell-Off at Career Education

• what are these things?
• Posted by KKrassa , Dr on November 16, 2006 at 1:15pm EST

• For profit higher education "companies" were really hot in the stock market for a while. Could someone explain what the heck they are? and how do they differ from, for example, private universities, state universities and community colleges?

• For-Profits
• Posted by kgotthardt on November 16, 2006 at 5:25pm EST

• For-profit schools are colleges and/or career schools that are either privately owned (by an individual, family, or small group) or go public on the stock market. Owners and investors expect to make money from the schools because they are, essentially, businesses. (In fact, some for-profits actually refer to students as customers.)

  The for-profits became popular choices for anyone looking to escape what was considered a limiting, overly-selective, exclusive ivory tower. Career schools, in particular, aim to provide more vocational education, usually stressing the hands-on aspect of the learning experience. The premise of these schools, I think, is good: everyone deserves a shot at furthering their education.

  The reality is that, just as with state-run schools, money, politics, and management can get in the way of fulfilling the mission. When this happens often enough, for-profit schools, especially those that receive Federal funding through financial aid, can face the same kind of scrutiny any publicly held company does. But because the funding is more complicated and the students usually vulnerable, there tends to be a wider array of problems as well as vocal, concerned constituents: the students, staff, faculty, stock holders, investors, and tax payers.

  That's about the best I can explain it, having worked in both sectors. There are hoards of academic arguments over the educational validity of these schools, but I think it's illogical to lump them all together and condemn the idea and the industry. My experience has been that the quality of the school largely depends on each campus' management and determination to focus on the needs of the students. Sometimes, shareholders' interests become the focus instead of the students, then the mission of the school is corrupted. Should you invest in a for-profit school? Ask your financial advisor : )

• thank you
• Posted by KKrassa on November 17, 2006 at 12:45pm EST

• Thank you so much, kgotthardt, for that reasoned answer. I would ask my financial advisor, except the financial world has gotten so bogus that I have switched to relying on my own reading of stock charts, rather than any financial advice, to choose investments. Complexities galore in the for-profit higher education field…. Free markets. Opportunity for all. The role of government funding in private enterprise, the inevitable corruption that the stock market brings with it. It occurs to me that there are apparently shortages of trained people in nursing, primary and secondary education, engineering… I wonder why it takes so long for these private, vocationally oriented institutions to regroup and change course, to provide trained people for jobs that are actually available.