Top Ten Reasons We Need To Crack Down On Predatory Institutions

Your tax dollars are hard at work supporting institutions that take extreme advantage of students.

1) They aren’t honest to students about what they’re getting themselves into.

chronicle.com / Via The Chronicle of Higher Education

The California Attorney General’s lawsuit against Corinthian Colleges Inc alleges that the company advertised job placement rates as high as 100 percent when there was no evidence that ANY students in that time frame got even one job.

2) They charge more for less education.

Via gao.gov

Here we can see that some for-profit certificate and associate degree programs cost more than bachelor degree programs at other institutions. A U.S. Senate investigation of for-profit colleges found that associate degree and certificate programs averaged four times the cost of degree programs at comparable community colleges.

3) They prey on certain groups of students—low-income students, students of color, active duty military, and veterans.

Via From a training manual for recruiters at Vatterott College

Eight of the ten schools receiving the most GI Bill dollars are for-profit colleges.

4) They spend more money on advertisements and marketing than they do on instruction.

5) They aren’t only expensive for enrolled students, but for taxpayers too.

educationtrust.org / Via The Education Trust

Pell is just one of many ways for-profits collect federal funds. In 2010-11, for-profit colleges collected $32 billion from the federal government; the average percentage of revenue coming from the federal government was 70 percent.

6) Students who graduate from these institutions earn less

The wages of graduates of for-profit colleges’ associate-degree programs were more than 20 percent lower than the wages of those who attended two-year programs at public colleges.

7) Students who graduate from these institutions default more.

Via Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA)’s tumblr page

For-profits accounted for 11% of all students enrolled in 2009-10, 32% of those who entered repayment on federal loans in 2010-11, and 48% of those who defaulted on federal loans by the end of September 2013.

8) And students who attend these institutions experience higher rates of unemployment.

Six years after entering college, for-profit students are more likely to be unemployed -- and to be unemployed for periods longer than three months.

9) The debt they leave with students has an effect on the economy

thenation.com / Via Scholarslip: A documentary on the student debt crisis

Scholarslip: A documentary on the student debt crisis / Via thenation.com

10) Congress has done little about this issue. And students can’t wait any longer!

The Department of Education has regulations in the works that could finally crack down harder on these shady programs.