Remington College now non-profit?

So I received my AAS degree from Remington College a few years ago and they were definitely known then as a for-profit school. I was checking out their website today for no particular reason and noticed that now they are advertising as a non-profit school. I'm curious as to what that means exactly and how a school can switch all of a sudden?

I found this article online that spells it out somewhat, but was curious if anyone else had any insight about this?

Remington College, like Keiser University, goes non-profit - Fort Lauderdale Metro, FL Local News - Fwix

 

That's interesting... wonder how this will impact the student experience / cost.

 

That is odd. I wonder if they had stock holders?

 

Remington College was previously under the ownership of its parent company the for-profit Education America, Inc. of Birmingham, AL.
Education Corporation of America

Education America | Remington College | Career Colleges | Technical Schools

 

Yeah, a friend had checked their tuition rates a couple of years ago and at that point they were on par with ITT, charging around 35k for an associate degree. Hopefully the change to non-profit will mean a greater focus on developing a better learning environment for the students, instead of them having found some loophole to continue to bleed tuition payers dry.

 

Here's my understanding. If you are for-profit (like most companies) you can take any profits you earn and put them into your own pocket. This is what leads to these corporate CEOs getting huge bonuses and is one of the reasons that for-profit schools get criticized because people allege that they care more about lining their own pockets than producing a good, affordable education product. Non-profit companies (including schools) can continue to make a profit but they are restricted as to how they can distribute that money. They can't just put it into the pockets of the school leaders, it has to get plowed back into the school. Minimally, this creates a difference in the perception of the organization. Othere differences include how the institution is taxed and how they can raise money. As to how the shift is made, it obviously has to get approved by whatever board of directors is in power but it's really just a legal (paperwork) process.

 

I have no clue why someone would pay 35K for an associates degree. Although, when I went to DeVry in the late 80's the cost was $10K for a 20 month certificate program. To provide a more current picture, that would be $18,100 in todays dollars using the Consumer Price Index. That is a lot but not even close to $35K!