ERIC Number: ED528213
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2011-Dec
Pages: N/A
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
The For-Profit Postsecondary School Sector: Nimble Critters or Agile Predators? NBER Working Paper No. 17710
Deming, David J.; Goldin, Claudia; Katz, Lawrence F.
National Bureau of Economic Research
Private for-profit institutions have been the fastest growing part of the U.S. higher education sector. For-profit enrollment increased from 0.2 percent to 9.1 percent of total enrollment in degree-granting schools from 1970 to 2009, and for-profit institutions account for the majority of enrollments in non-degree granting postsecondary schools. We describe the schools, students, and programs in the for-profit higher education sector, its phenomenal recent growth, and its relationship to the federal and state governments. Using the 2004 to 2009 Beginning Postsecondary Students (BPS) longitudinal survey we assess outcomes of a recent cohort of first-time undergraduates who attended for-profits relative to comparable students who attended community colleges or other public or private non-profit institutions. We find that relative to these other institutions, for-profits educate a larger fraction of minority, disadvantaged, and older students, and they have greater success at retaining students in their first year and getting them to complete short programs at the certificate and associate degree levels. But we also find that for-profit students end up with higher unemployment and "idleness" rates and lower earnings six years after entering programs than do comparable students from other schools, and that they have far greater student debt burdens and default rates on their student loans.
Descriptors: Higher Education, Associate Degrees, Enrollment Trends, Enrollment, Proprietary Schools, Private Sector, School Holding Power, Unemployment, Loan Default, Debt (Financial), Student Loan Programs, Private Education, Undergraduate Students, Comparative Analysis, Community Colleges, Two Year Colleges, Public Education, Nonprofit Organizations, Minority Group Students, Nontraditional Students, Educationally Disadvantaged
National Bureau of Economic Research. 1050 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138-5398. Tel: 617-588-0343; Web site: http://www.nber.org
Publication Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education; Two Year Colleges
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Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: National Bureau of Economic Research
Identifiers - Location: United States
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A