NY Times on For-Profit Schoola: investigation

But the Education Department, despite a crackdown against what it calls “bad actors,” continues to hand over tens of millions of dollars every month to other for-profit schools that have been accused of predatory behavior, substandard practices or illegal activity by its own officials or state attorneys general across the country.

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Kaplan’s schools, including its online California law school, where only one in five students graduates, received $776.3 million worth of federal student loans and grants last year. Because it lacks bar association accreditation, most graduates outside California are not allowed to take a bar exam.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/13/business/for-profit-colleges-accused-of-fraud-still-receive-us-funds.html?ref=education&_r=0

 

Here's a thought exercise: What if Congress passed a law forbidding federal financial aid of any kind--loans, grants, GI Bill, military tuition assistance, even research grants--from going to for-profit schools with, say, a 10-year sunset clause. After that, schools would either have to fend for themselves (with students who pay their own way or get private loans and other sources of support apart from the government), switch to not-for-profit status, or go out of business. Questions:

a. What would that look like after the sunset period? Would the problem be better, worse, the same, or just different?

b. What impact would it have on the for-profit schools and their investors?

c. What impact would that have for working, adult learners?

d. What impact would that have on national HRD?

e. What impact would that have on businesses on a micro level and the economy on a macro level?

f. Would our country be better off, worse off, the same, or just different?

 

Interesting question.

As a sidebar, I'm enrolling in a non-profit corporation (aka a university) to pursue an MA degree -- and it will be interesting to see if it is educationally different.

 

I think some schools would convert to non-profit status. I think others would simply branch into alternative revenue models (i.e. Patten).

I also think that the surviving for-profit schools would forge corporate partnerships and focus on bringing in as much corporate TA as possible (some already do this).

 

Where you been dude? Missed your pensive missives!

 

Three things:

1) The last time I was on here my car suddenly needed many repairs because I foolishly tried to save money by going to an independent mechanic (did you know that some mechanics are unaware that Subarus are AWD and can do stuff to utterly destroy your car?). Which was making me far crabbier than I normally am (my apologies to all who got caught in that).

2) My job saw a major influx of work as I had to suddenly take over the administration of the summer co-ops.

3) I had to spend about three weeks traveling for work (though one of my adventures is noted in the Naprapathic Medicine thread).

In any case, it's good to be back. And I'm feeling rejuvenated. I also feel like the break gave me some time to think about education in some new ways without coming back to the same old arguments. So, yeah, constructive all around.

 

As a happy Subaru owner, I sympathize and agree that this would make me very crabby.