A Social Responsibility Seal for For-Profit Education?

Jonathan Whatley · Aug 26, 2014

Paul Fain said:

B Lab is already well-established across wide swaths of the corporate world, having signed up 1,100 companies across 120 different industries.

The group serves as a third-party verifier for its standards. It issues qualified participants a seal of approval, sort of like the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Saver or the fairtrade certification from Fairtrade International.

To earn the group's public seal as a "B Corporation" -- the B stands for benefit, as in public benefit -- a company must adhere to a central core of standards. But the rules are tailored to each industry.

On Tuesday, B Lab announced the formation of a 10-member working group that will try to decide where to set the bar for the for-profit education sector. The Lumina Foundation is funding that work.

The 10 selected members of the committee hail from for-profits [Capella, and Laureate Education which owns Walden, University of St. Augustine and others], left-leaning think tanks and traditional higher education, and also include a former accreditor (see box).
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Profit and Social Responsibility (Group wants to create voluntary standards for the for-profit industry) (Paul Fain, Inside Higher Ed, August 26, 2014)

SteveFoerster · Aug 26, 2014

Interesting. I'm skeptical that the publicly traded universities can adapt to this, but I still look forward to seeing what standards the B Lab committee produces.

CalDog · Aug 26, 2014

The story notes that the proposed standards would likely have no practical impact on publicly-traded schools:

No Big Chains?

It is difficult for publicly traded companies to take the plunge. They are legally required to put shareholders first. And going the B corporation route would require difficult legal and governance changes that shareholders would need to approve.

As a result, observers said few, if any, of the large publicly traded for-profit chains will be able to participate in the B Lab experiment. That would rule out a big chunk of the industry’s enrollment.
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Shareholders are typically interested in the maximization of profit. If a given school is obligated to put shareholder interests (i.e. profit) ahead of student interests, then it may be unrealistic to expect much in terms of "social responsibility".

me again · Aug 27, 2014

comments section from article said:

David Bergeron is the shill behind the Gainful Employment rule. He hates for-profit schools and his actions prove it.
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The concept of creating a "B" regulator seems nutty.

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A Social Responsibility Seal for For-Profit Education?

Jonathan Whatley Well-Known Member

SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

CalDog New Member

me again Well-Known Member

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A Social Responsibility Seal for For-Profit Education?

Jonathan Whatley Well-Known Member

SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

CalDog New Member

me again Well-Known Member

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