http://www.npr.org/blogs/ed/2014/07...-to-the-closure-of-a-giant-for-profit-college
After a long reign as the fastest-growing and most problematic sector in higher education, for-profit colleges are on the ropes.
This week the U.S. Department of Education announced that it will review how federal student aid is administered at one of the country's largest for-profit colleges, the University of Phoenix. Owned by the publicly traded Apollo Group, the University of Phoenix enrolls over 200,000 students, rivaling the size of the nation's largest public university system.
Between 2000 and 2010, enrollment at the nation's for-profit colleges quadrupled, peaking at 1.7 million—or about one in ten college students. These colleges benefited from both the Internet boom and the relaxing of credit in the runup to the financial crisis. They spent serious money on advertising and marketing, targeting working and low-income adults with convenient online programs and the promise of job opportunities, and sometimes lending them private student loans. But the sector has been plagued by repeated allegations of financial mismanagement, fraud, and abuse. For-profit colleges have been the target of class-action lawsuits, Congressional investigations,and probes by state attorneys general.
After a long reign as the fastest-growing and most problematic sector in higher education, for-profit colleges are on the ropes.
This week the U.S. Department of Education announced that it will review how federal student aid is administered at one of the country's largest for-profit colleges, the University of Phoenix. Owned by the publicly traded Apollo Group, the University of Phoenix enrolls over 200,000 students, rivaling the size of the nation's largest public university system.
Between 2000 and 2010, enrollment at the nation's for-profit colleges quadrupled, peaking at 1.7 million—or about one in ten college students. These colleges benefited from both the Internet boom and the relaxing of credit in the runup to the financial crisis. They spent serious money on advertising and marketing, targeting working and low-income adults with convenient online programs and the promise of job opportunities, and sometimes lending them private student loans. But the sector has been plagued by repeated allegations of financial mismanagement, fraud, and abuse. For-profit colleges have been the target of class-action lawsuits, Congressional investigations,and probes by state attorneys general.
Kill them all with fire. 
