How For-Profit Colleges Stay In Business Despite Terrible Track Record

[marmar]

By every available indication, Corinthian Colleges Inc., one of the country's largest chains of for-profit colleges, stands out as an institution whose students face especially long odds of success.

At nearly half of Corinthian's schools, more than 30 percent of students default on their federal loans within three years of leaving campus, according to the most recent federal data. California last year cited excessively high default rates in denying access to state tuition grants at 23 of the company's campuses. Over the last three years, attorneys general in eight states and the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have probed Corinthian's recruitment claims and financial aid practices, raising the prospect of lawsuits.

Yet by the reckoning of the accrediting bodies that are supposed to scrutinize Corinthian's 97 U.S. campuses, its schools are meeting standards on student debt and adequately preparing graduates for jobs. Over the past decade, Corinthian's schools have remained fully accredited, enabling the publicly traded company to tap federal student aid coffers for nearly $10 billion, or more than 80 percent of its total revenues, according to a Huffington Post review of securities filings and disciplinary records maintained by its accreditors.

Corinthian's success in maintaining accreditation even as its students sink into default typifies the state of play in the for-profit college industry and underscores both the incentives and the provenance of the people doing the accrediting work: Accrediting agencies receive their funding from fees paid by the very colleges they monitor. The review teams they dispatch to visit and rate schools are composed of volunteers from other schools accredited by the same agencies. ...................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/19/for-profit-college-accreditation_n_3937079.html

[dembotoz]

1. they seem to sell the idea of a job rather than an education

and if you are un or underemployed the idea of a job
after "just a short amount of school" can be very attractive

[Lee-Lee]

2. These places hire really slick salesmen

They are all over military bases, they even come to reserve and guard units on weekends pitching their crap schools. They know all the tricks to drain every bit of GI bill, tuition assistance of VA money a Soldier has coming too.

Sad part is many commands give these guys access to troops during duty hours. They say they will allow any school access, but if your school is legit you don't send high pressure salesmen out.

[Eleanors38]

5. And there are many community colleges with both

"terminal" programs with REAL certification, and 4-yr academic track programs. It's insane.

[xchrom]

3. du rec.

[Eleanors38]

4. WAPO owns Kaplan, one if the biggies. nt

[woo me with science]

6. K&R

[elleng]

7. Sounds like college rating agencies, like securities rating agencies,

preempted by the entities they rate. Anyone surprised?