College Inc. Frontline special on for-profit Schools

IRONMONKUS

I searched and found about three posts on this, but they are hidden within the WGU thread and I feel that maybe this needs it's own thread, so those interested can watch it.

Since online education is becoming more in demand due to busy work schedules, families, and those of us returning to obtain our degrees after being in the field, I think this video is one that everyone needs to watch before choosing which school to attend and which school you wish to spend your valuable education funding on.

The link for those that wish to watch... College Inc.

erpadmin

Anybody ever watch Accepted? That movie with Justin Long [The MAC guy]?

That was like the first thing I thought of when I saw this special, when it was "hidden" in the WGU thread.

I actually thought that movie could never happen in real life. That investor guy who doesn't even have a college degree seems to make it possible.

I'm wondering if perhaps it might be easy to set a for-profit university up, based on the WGU model. The barriers of entry seem to be quite low; so long as Congress sides with the for profits.

The hardest part from doing so would be getting accredited, but from the looks of it from the Frontline special, that doesn't seem to be hard to do.

Thoughts?

eansdad

Not hard to get accredited all they do is buy a school in need with accreditation. The investor even talks about this in the Frontline series.

There should be more regulation on colleges/universities/career schools. To many with such a wide variety of standards.

tpatt100

Not sure there is a need for more regulation since I feel companies will self regulate which colleges they consider worth it. When enough people from certain for profit colleges fail to get jobs or advance like they thought admissions will drop.

The thing is many students are people already working in their chosen field so the degree is just a HR check box requirement.

erpadmin

eansdad wrote: »

Not hard to get accredited all they do is buy a school in need with accreditation. The investor even talks about this in the Frontline series.

There should be more regulation on colleges/universities/career schools. To many with such a wide variety of standards.

Yes, the investor *prefers* to buy a school that is already accredited, as it increases the value to investors when the school goes public and it's less work that he needs to do. However, getting accredited in the first place is what I was getting at.

From a money-making standpoint, this seems to be a great way to make money. From a personal perspective, I think profiting from the less fortunate to further your pocket can be messed up....

IRONMONKUS

erpadmin wrote: »

From a money-making standpoint, this seems to be a great way to make money. From a personal perspective, I think profiting from the less fortunate to further your pocket can be messed up....

This in and of itself, is the scary part! Those less fortunate that are struggling to gain an education in hopes of furthering a career or starting one, pay huge sums of money to possibly go nowhere.

This reminds us to really do our research, read reviews, and ask employers and other colleges if they would accept a degree from this college or university.

It saddens me that people would take advantage of other people, but it's happening all over the place and not just in education.

erpadmin

IRONMONKUS wrote: »

... and ask employers and other colleges if they would accept a degree from this college or university.

I know others have answered this in the affirmative. I won't, personally, know until I graduate. However, in the unlikely event that my WGU BS is worth crap, as far as employers go, I will gun for a Masters at a B&M university at some point after that. (Whether it's immediate and/or some point after is another story, because I need to financially plan how that's going to happen, but that's another topic... ).

As for your other points...I agree. I don't think I can sleep well at night if I ran a school that couldn't get a single mom a job to pay back her loans, or that veteran who was promised that a degree, coupled with his military experience, can't really compete with the education he received at my for-profit. I know others like Bush's Carlyle Group can....(Carlyle Group was mentioned in another documentary.....). But I guess having a heart means one can't make billions.

So be it, then.

it_consultant

Erpadmin, WGU is non-profit, right?

erpadmin

it_consultant wrote: »

Erpadmin, WGU is non-profit, right?

Yes, WGU is non-profit.

I only mentioned it in case there were employers that did not want to accept WGU as a valid degree, not to call it a for-profit. I only wanted to mention that IF I was wrong about WGU being accepted by employers, I have a Plan B: pursue a Masters at a B&M.

uhtrinity

The thing to watch will be the "gainful employment rule change". This could be a game changer for abuse in for-profit education.