Since 2009 the U.S. Department of Education has been trying to increase regulations on all colleges and universities. They feel that one of the current challenges facing online education is that a large number of the major online colleges and universities are for-profit and that these for-profit schools are not always acting in the student’s best interest.
What is the difference between a for-profit and a non-profit college or university? For-profit means that the college is accountable to owners or investors, while a non-profit college is typically run by a board that is less concerned with the financial maters of the college. This can also be called “public.” Non-profit schools typically receive funding through the government, tuition and fees, and donations and any money the school does earn is re-invested in the school. For-profit colleges follow a more traditional business model and are usually a small part of a much larger corporation. The investors expect to make money from the school.
There is a general perception that for-profit institutions are typically responsible for reckless behavior that causes issues within our college and university system within the United States, however, it should be noted that there are also many public institutions that have the same issues that for-profit colleges have received a bad rap for such as not protecting the rights of the students and causing a lack of trust within the college and university system. There are many colleges and universities, both non-profit and for profit that have not always acted in the public’s best interest.
As higher education continues to evolve and more and more colleges have online components, there has been a steep growth of the for-profit college. For-profit colleges are the ones with advertisements on TV and they usually have a marketing division. Within these schools there is a big push to recruit students as each student equals money coming into the college/university. For-profit schools often do not have a campus and instead lease building space.
Even the way courses are designed and taught is usually different in a for-profit setting. In a traditional college, professors design their own courses and implement their own individualized lesson plans. In a for-profit school, the course shell is typically created by full-time faculty members and then is given to adjunct faculty to teach without the same creative control.
For-profit schools are perfect for non-traditional students – older students with full-time jobs and families aren’t looking for a traditional school experience – they are looking to receive the skills and degree they need to move forward in their career. Most for-profit colleges focus on minorities, low-income students, and first generation college students.
Because of few support services and less of a feeling of a community, as well as the type of students who are recruited, many for profit schools have lower graduation rates than non-profit counterparts. However, as long as the school is accredited, this ensures that the school has met the necessary academic standards and that the degree will be worth the paper it is printed on.
About the Author
Jamie Weitl is a WAHM teaching for several online universities and raising three precocious little ones. In her spare time she enjoys writing, baking, and running. For more info, see my Google Plus Profile.
