Trump University Is Like Other For-Profit Colleges But Without The Degree
The documents released in the lawsuit against Trump University paint an unflattering picture. And as NPR has reported, the political repercussions could be hugely damaging for the Trump campaign.
Beyond politics, Trump U's moneymaking schemes highlight the lingering survival of a larger issue — cases of fraud in the for-profit college industry. A lot of the Trump U strategies sound like they were pulled straight from the playbooks of those colleges. But is that a fair comparison?
One huge difference between Trump University and the broader for-profit industry is that Trump's "school" was not actually a university at all. In fact, New York's Department of Education requested that the enterprise drop university from its namein order to continue to do business in the state. It didn't offer degrees; it was not accredited; and its students were not eligible for federal financial aid.
"With the exception of the word 'university,' there's nothing it has in common. They're just completely different," said Noah Black, a spokesman for Career Education Colleges and Universities, which represents for-profit colleges.
"It's an attempt by people opposed to having the private sector in education to confuse people into thinking our institutions have anything in common with Trump University," he added
Not everyone agrees with that.
"Obviously Trump University invoked the term 'university' euphemistically," said Barmak Nassirian, director of policy analysis at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, which advocates for public higher education institutions.
In terms of its tactics, Nassirian said, it's "mostly a matter of degrees" that separate Trump University from degree-granting for-profit colleges.
The for-profit college industry
For-profit colleges differ from other post-secondary institutions in that, unlike their not-for-profit counterparts, these schools are businesses. That means they're looking to make money.
They've been good at it for a while. The for-profit industry saw a boom from 1998 to 2008, when enrollment more than tripled. By 2012, 10 to 13 percent of all college students attended a for-profit school, according to a Senate report that year, which examined the for-profit college industry.
Since then, the industry has been scrutinized. Last summer, the U.S. Department of Education made a "gainful employment" rule, which requires for-profit colleges toTrump University Uses Similar Sales Tactics To For-Profit Colleges But Without Degrees : NPR:
