| Arne Duncan's Entitlement of a "Public" Education Sep 27, 2010 | Email this page Printer friendly page |
The U.S. Department of Education commenced an effort in 2009 to rein in for-profit education companies. The for-profit companies, organized to offer degree programs to students using U.S. government subsidized loans and grants, used new technologies, flat organization charts, and capital markets to flood higher education with accessible degree programs that cut student time in degree programs by half. Begun as "night schools" operating from leased offices and attracting adults seeking to improve their lot by earning college degrees, the for-profit education companies quickly transited to the Internet. Some earned regional accreditation, others purchased failing colleges that were regionally accredited, and some were registered with the SEC and capitalized through sale of publicly traded stock.
Corinthian Colleges, University of Phoenix, Capella, American Public University, Kaplan Education, Grand Canyon University and Bridgepoint are some of the powerhouses in the for-profit education industry. Others, equally powerful but privately held, operate on a smaller scale in every town and city of America usually focusing on training students for gainful employment.
Their actions have left their public college competitors in the dust largely because the government subsidized public university system of colleges and universities--best