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During recessions or times of high unemployment, there tends to be an\u00a0increase<\/a>\u00a0in the number of people who enroll in college.<\/p>\n Due to the economic fallout from COVID-19, it is expected many people are likely to return to college once again. Indeed, a\u00a0survey<\/a>\u00a0from March found that one-third of American workers felt that if they lost their job because of COVID-19-related events, they would need additional education or training to get another job that pays the same. Asked if they had US$5,000 to spend on their future education or training, 26% of survey respondents said they would attend an online college or university.<\/p>\n If people rush to enroll in college during harsh economic times, they may not weigh whether they choose to apply to a for-profit institution or a more traditional nonprofit or public university. As\u00a0scholars<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0higher education<\/a>\u00a0who have observed the\u00a0ups and downs<\/a>\u00a0of for-profit colleges, we think that would be a big mistake.<\/p>\n As the term \u201cfor-profit\u201d implies, these schools exist to make money for investors. A 2019 report found that relative to other postsecondary institutions, for-profit colleges\u00a0spend the least<\/a>\u00a0on instruction \u2013 less than half of all the tuition they collect from students \u2013 and tend to\u00a0spend heavily on marketing and advertising<\/a>.<\/p>\n Public universities, on the other hand, often\u00a0spend relatively more on instruction<\/a>. So do many nonprofit private institutions. That matters because the more a school spends on instruction, research shows,\u00a0the better its students tend to do<\/a>\u00a0in terms of getting full-time jobs and bigger salaries.<\/p>\n For-profit colleges are positioned to capture a substantial share of students\u00a0in the near future<\/a>\u00a0as the U.S. and the world respond to the economic fallout of COVID-19.<\/p>\n There are currently about 500 or so\u00a0for-profit colleges and universities in the United States<\/a>, and they\u00a0enroll about a million of the nation\u2019s 20 million college students<\/a>. While these schools have created many opportunities for people to attend college who\u00a0otherwise would not have been able to go<\/a>, we believe the foundational mission of a for-profit institution \u2013 to make money for its owners \u2013 can have a negative impact on students.<\/p>\n Several for-profit colleges have\u00a0a history of deception<\/a>\u00a0when it comes to things like their true costs, educational quality, and students\u2019 chances of graduating and finding a good job. For instance, the University of Phoenix advertises close relationships with more than 2,000 corporate partners like Microsoft, Adobe, Yahoo, Twitter and the American Red Cross. According to the Federal Trade Commission, some of the university\u2019s TV and radio ads falsely\u00a0implied<\/a>\u00a0these companies were directly involved in creating course materials and facilitating job opportunities for Phoenix graduates. In December 2019 the university agreed to pay a\u00a0$191 million settlement<\/a>\u00a0to resolve the charges.<\/p>\n And the University of Phoenix is not alone. In 2015, Corinthian Colleges\u00a0shut down<\/a>\u00a0when faced with claims that the company misrepresented job placement and graduation rates. In 2016, ITT Technical Institutes closed after the U.S. Department of Education banned the school from enrolling new students because of its \u201cshaky financial management<\/a>.\u201d Since then, thousands of defrauded students from the shuttered schools \u2013 and other closed for-profit colleges \u2013 have\u00a0largely denied student loan forgiveness<\/a>.<\/p>\n To help people avoid falling into a similar situation, we suggest anyone thinking about enrolling in college consider the following when evaluating their range of choices:<\/p>\n To determine if a college is a for-profit, use the U.S. Department of Education\u2019s\u00a0College Scorecard<\/a>. It includes information for more than 7,000 colleges and universities. All you need to do is enter a school\u2019s name in the search bar, which pulls up a profile that includes a gray icon labeled \u201cpublic,\u201d \u201cprivate not-for-profit\u201d or \u201cprivate for-profit.\u201d If you discover a school falls into the latter category, don\u2019t automatically write it off. Continue to do more independent research.<\/p>\n For-profit colleges and universities generally cost more than their public counterparts but are cheaper than private nonprofits. In 2017-18,\u00a0tuition and fees of four-year institutions<\/a>\u00a0averaged $9,044 for traditional publics, $17,020 for for-profits, and $34,621 for private nonprofits. That\u2019s a lot of money, regardless of which type of school you choose. But for many, it\u2019s worth paying to get a college degree.<\/p>\n This is where for-profits aren\u2019t as good of a bet. Only\u00a032%<\/a>\u00a0of full-time undergraduates who started in 2009 at a for-profit college graduated within six years. Compare that to 59% at traditional public colleges and 66% at traditional private colleges.<\/p>\n Use\u00a0The College Scorecard<\/a>\u00a0to research exact costs and degree completion rates for the schools you\u2019re considering. The Scorecard also has information about how much student loan debt graduates owe. Pay extra attention to this measure. Graduates of for-profit colleges and universities often take on a lot of loans but have difficulty repaying them. According to the most recent\u00a0figures<\/a>, for-profits account for a hefty third of all student loan defaults but less than a tenth of total enrollments.<\/p>\n A good tool for evaluating your own loans versus projected earnings is Nerd Wallet\u2019s\u00a0college affordability calculator<\/a>, which recommends no more than 10% of a college graduate\u2019s take-home pay should go towards student loan debt.<\/p>\n Determining how well different colleges and universities support students\u2019 learning is challenging for many reasons, but a basic indicator of quality is\u00a0accreditation<\/a>. We recommend any school you are considering, for-profit or not, should be accredited, especially by\u00a0a regional association<\/a>. Accreditation means their programs align with general higher education standards. Students at unaccredited schools\u00a0cannot receive federal financial aid<\/a>. Plus,\u00a0finding a job<\/a>\u00a0can be difficult with an unaccredited degree.<\/p>\n You can determine an institution\u2019s accreditation status \u2013 and if any of its specific programs are separately accredited for careers that require professional licenses, such as for nurses or pharmacists \u2013 through the Department of Education\u2019s\u00a0Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs<\/a>.<\/p>\n Traditional colleges and universities move slowly. It can take years for a new degree program to be developed and made available to students. One area where for-profits do comparatively well is\u00a0responding to current opportunities in the job market<\/a>. The Bureau of Labor Statistics\u2019\u00a0Occupational Outlook Handbook<\/a>\u00a0provides information about salary, work environment and educational requirements for hundreds of occupations. If your ideal career\u2019s degree obligations cannot be met by a nonprofit institution, a for-profit provider could possibly help.<\/p>\n An important caveat: For most established majors, employers do not view degrees from for-profit universities favorably.\u00a0One study<\/a>\u00a0found that people whose resumes listed no postsecondary degree whatsoever had the same chances of landing a job interview as those who graduated from a for-profit college.\u00a0Other research<\/a>\u00a0shows among people with bachelor\u2019s degrees in business, the chances of getting an interview are around 22% lower for online for-profit graduates compared to those from nonselective public universities.<\/p>\n Sustainable for-profit colleges and universities don\u2019t try to copy traditional schools.\u00a0They do something different<\/a>, often for a different population of students. Some for-profits have found success\u00a0partnering with employers<\/a>\u00a0to create skill-based content to develop and retain a capable workforce. Others have experimented with self-paced\u00a0competency-based programs<\/a>\u00a0that allow experienced students to earn degrees quicker.<\/p>\n Despite the controversy surrounding this sector, for-profit schools might be a useful choice for some. Anyone planning to enroll in postsecondary education should seek out independent sources of information about their options. But when considering whether to attend a for-profit, prospective students should be particularly careful.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A history of deception<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Is the school you plan to attend for-profit?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
How much will you pay for a degree?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Does the school provide a high-quality education?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
What job market opportunities exist for graduates?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Why should anyone attend a for-profit?<\/strong><\/h4>\n