Monday, May 17, 2010

For-profit colleges have legacy of recruiter compensation | California Watch

For-profit colleges have legacy of recruiter compensation | California Watch

For-profit colleges have legacy of recruiter compensation

Some for-profit education companies' practice of compensating recruitment officials based on the number of students they enroll has drawn increased scrutiny from the media and from the federal government.
The idea is that incentive compensation can result in high-pressure recruiting tactics, where enrollment counselors try to rope in as many students as possible into high-priced programs with scant regard for their chances of success.
Yet, as a recent Higher Ed Watch blog post illuminates, the practice is anything but new.
Congress banned colleges from providing incentive compensation to employees in 1992 after reports of abuse, including a 1991 report by the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the U.S. Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs.
The report sounds eerily similar to some of the cases making headlines today. "Dishonest elements" have