<p>After seeing the "growing education scam" post I want to know what you all think now more than ever since you might remember the for-profit college boom better than I can.
So, a couple of years back(5-6 years, perhaps more) when my brother was about to start college I remember him getting calls from The University of Phoenix(I was young and foolishly thought it was the University of Phoenix as in Phoenix, Arizona), Sanford-Brown, ITT-Tech, online public schools etc. I also remember seeing commercials about schools which I now know are for-profit colleges and I was just wondering... they often advertised programs for nursing/dental assisting, architecture, business administration and the like. I remembered always wondering that if you could get that kind of training in a 6-12 month program and quickly get a job instead of wasting time and money going to a 4 year college or 2 year community college, then why do people even go to traditional colleges anymore? Also, if it was truly that easy to get a certificate in those fields once people started graduating wouldn't they create a surplus of workers with the same credentials?
Needless to say I am now a bit older and more wary of some of the job placement and training promises for-profits make, but I want to know what you, the parents of CC, thought about it initially.
It might have started earlier than I depicted, but that is just what I've internalized in these past years. I also now wonder if for profits are all that different from trade schools considering trades(plumbing and other utilities, welding) are supposedly in demand right now.
I don't know, I'm just curious.</p>
<p>The for-profits tend to market toward people who are unfamiliar with the traditional college route - people who have no college attendance history in their family and know little about higher education, or don’t trust it for some reason. They also tend to prey on the desparation of people who have few other choices or need to do something to earn money immediately. The “nursing” programs, for example, tend to be Certified Nursing Assistant programs which pay little more than minimum wage. OTOH, in our area, one can go to the county vo-tech center, become a Licensed Practical Nurse in 18 months and earn a living wage for a fraction of the cost of a for-profit. It’s a scam all the way around. </p>
<p>The difference between the for-profit trade schools is that these convince their desperate and uninformed students that this is the only way to fulfill their dreams of making lots of money. This is manna to some folks who know that their academic ability might not be the greatest. Very expensive lesson.</p>
<p>My initial thoughts when I first heard about these schools was that they were filling a gap that community colleges didn’t offer or didn’t offer enough of for post-HS courses (engineering tech training, paralegal training, introductory programming) more similar to a trade school.</p>
<p>But they aren’t. All that and more at your excellent local community college. </p>
<p>Public schools offer online classes and also vocational training.
For profit schools prey on students who don’t understand the difference between options, and who may be unduly flattered by the for profit school offering them a scholarship or award, After which the school will likely * still* be more expensive than the public option.</p>
<p>The CC doesn’t always have space for all the interested students. But saddling working-class young people with lots of debt isn’t a good solution to that problem.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That’s the problem. It’s not that easy. However, many of these schools actually do train people in a short, intense amount of time. I know people who have gone to them and have done fine for themselves. They’ve become court reporters, bailiffs, computer operators, mechanics, bookkeepers, paralegals, and lots of other jobs. The schools get a bad rap and I think some of it is unjustified. Unfortunately, a lot of folks who start out at these schools don’t anticipate the level of work and they drop out. If you compared the student loan default rate at a private college with a drop out rate similar to ITT or Apex Tech, I wonder how different they’d be. </p>
<p>Its well known that the student loan default rate is much higher at for profits, and also that the amount of borrowing for the for profits is higher. </p>
<p>The main target for these schools is returning military service members, and for years, the government would give them loans to cover the high tuition. But many students never complete their degrees and end up with a mountain of debt and nothing to show for it, so it’s not as easy to get a loan as it once was. </p>
<p>College is not for everybody. Those who are academically-minded and have the discipline to pursue a degree should go the traditional route. But for those who wouldn’t be accepted to a traditional college or need to learn some good study skills, then it’s best to go to a CC first or to learn a trade. For-profit schools don’t benefit anyone but the owners.</p>
<p>CCs don’t often have room right away for some programs. However, while you are waiting to be admitted you can generally take courses that will be applicable to your studies that you can take with out having to be formally admitted.</p>
<p>The skilled trades like electrical have a journeyman’s process that includes working in the industry that the University of Phoenix and its kind do not.</p>
<p>Also: I have a friend who is a teacher and she had a limited amount of time to cough up a master’s degree due to new requirements. She went to the University of Phoenix because it would allow her to keep working and get her master’s. However, she had been a solid student in undergraduate and knew what would be entailed and how exhausting it would be.</p>
<p>(Truly an edit because I’m too wordy and I noticed in time.)</p>
<p>I have a couple friends (in their late 40s) who completed business degrees online through University of Phoenix. They felt that having a degree would advance their careers. Their employers assisted with tuition. And both received promotions after finishing the degrees. I think some of these for-profit, online schools can be really useful for older, non-traditional students. You can’t really lump all for-profits together. </p>