The characteristics that students like in for-profit postsecondary institutions are present in many more traditional institutions as well. Yet most students who attend for-profit institutions are not convinced that they can fit into traditional institutions. In this article, the author examines the reasons why for-profit institutions appeal more to most students than traditional institutions. Based on the interviews with students as part of several schools' licensure application procedures in North Carolina, the author finds that most students' satisfaction with for-profit institutions comes from how they perceive they are treated, how they believe they would be treated in other institutions, and how flexible they perceive the institution to be in helping to meet their educational and career needs. In addition, one reason why for-profit institutions are so successful lay in the fact that they know their target student audience well and market their services aggressively. (Contains 1 resource.)