Predatory U? For-Profit Colleges and Universities Have a Lot of Explaining To DoFor-profit colleges and universities are higher education's boom sector. From 1999 through 2009, student enrollment - either by mail, online or at various office-park "campuses" - skyrocketed 236 percent. That's 10 times the rate of growth at public colleges and universities and non-profit private institutions. The schools' bottom lines have grown just as fat, with federal student aid the source of roughly two-thirds of their revenue. During the 2008-2009 school year, they soaked up about $20 billion in student loans and $4.31 billion in Pell Grants. For-profits boast that they provide access to higher education to low-income and minority students. Indeed, about 20 percent of black students and nearly one of every four Pell Grant recipients enroll in a for-profit college or university. But the educational benefits to students are not clear, and taxpayers deserve an explanation. The Education Trust, an advocacy group for low-income students funded by major philanthropies, has assembled troubling data. The graduation rate for first-time, full-time students seeking four-year bachelor's degrees is just 22 percent. The University of Phoenix, the nation's largest for-profit college, had a 9 percent graduation rate for these students in 2008. Two-year programs in which students receive associates' degrees or certificates have higher completion rates.
The College Board, a non-profit group that helps students access higher education, says the average annual cost of tuition and fees at a community college is $2,700. It is $7,605 at a public four-year college. It is $27,200 at a private four-year college. And it is $13,900 at a for-profit college. For-profit university students end up carrying huge debt loads, and they account for more than 40 percent of all federal student loan defaults even though they make up only 12 percent of enrollments and 24 percent of federal loan dollars. The U.S. Department of Education has proposed rules that would protect taxpayers and students. They are called "gainful employment" regulations. Their purpose is to hold schools accountable for the supposed economic benefits of their career-training programs. Under the proposed rules, schools that saddle students with excessive debt and have loan repayment rates below 35 percent no longer would be supported with Pell Grants and Stafford Loans. But this publicly subsidized multibillion industry has plenty of political clout. On Friday, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives (with the help of some Democratic members) voted to defund any attempt to implement, administer or enforce the Department of Education's proposed rule. This cynical vote is the "job killer." It dooms students to heavy debt for training that provides dubious prospects of gainful employment. REPRINTED FROM THE ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM
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