The rapid growth of the proprietary sector in the provision of social services traditionally administered under non-profit or government auspices creates a problem and challenge for teachers of social policy. Instructors need to interpret this new trend, without much literature support, to a group of students with increasing potential for employment in for-profit organizations. For-profit agencies have become major providers of child welfare and day care services. The health care field has also seen recent growth in for-profit provision of services. Professional social workers are increasingly employed in for-profit organizations. Growth in for-profit social services is due to the following changes: (1) increased government financing of services for people previously unable to purchase them; (2) new middle class markets such as day care and nursing homes; (3) current ideologic preference for for-profit as opposed to non-profit delivery mechanisms; (4) public dissatisfaction with existing services. The issues involved include defining terms such as private sector and proprietary, and understanding delivery system choices. Ethical issues raised by the intrusion of the market into social services delivery have not been explored. The most pressing implications for teaching of social policy include content on proprietary auspices, standardization of terminology, assessing the choices in delivery structure, the health care system as an exemplar, universalism versus selectivity, need for descriptive and comparative studies, and ethics and values education. (ABL)