ERIC Number: EJ828743
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2008-Dec-19
Pages: 1
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0009-5982
EISSN: N/A
Economic Downturn Brings Prosperity and Opportunities to For-Profit Colleges
Blumenstyk, Goldie
Chronicle of Higher Education, v55 n17 pA13 Dec 2008
For-profit colleges, unlike the rest of higher education, are enjoying a financial boon that is likely to improve in the next couple of years. Enrollments this fall at nine major publicly traded college companies grew at a pace faster than the average annual rate of growth for the past three years, while profit margins for this year are projected to be higher than they have been since 2005. While many experts have predicted that the current recession, like previous ones, will result in higher college enrollments over all, as laid-off workers enroll for retraining, many public and private institutions will be hard-pressed to accommodate them because other sources of financing will be squeezed. Analysts from the Stifel Nicolaus investment bank said the for-profit sector, in contrast, is well positioned to benefit from the inflow of new students. Changes in federal student-aid policies have made grants and subsidized loans more available, so more students can find the money to pay for the colleges' programs. The colleges' main concern about the economy is whether it will turn around quickly enough that the students who enroll in programs that train them for careers in health care, information technology, business, and the culinary arts will be able to land jobs once they graduate.
Descriptors: Higher Education, Information Technology, Educational Finance, Private Colleges, Enrollment, Retraining, Student Financial Aid, Educational Policy, Grants, Paying for College, Health Occupations, Career Development, Business, Employment Potential, Economic Factors, Cooking Instruction
Chronicle of Higher Education. 1255 23rd Street NW Suite 700, Washington, DC 20037. Tel: 800-728-2803; e-mail: circulation@chronicle.com; Web site: http://chronicle.com/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A