Dive Brief:
- A new study from the Public Policy Institute of California reveals that African American, Latinos and Asian students comprise the largest number of student to have enrolled in for-profit colleges between 2004 and 2014.
- By 2011, African Americans comprised about 15% of the total enrollment in for-profit schools, nearly doubling the percentage of students graduating from high school during the same period (7%).
- While enrollment has dropped by 20% at for-profit institutions over the last five years, African American enrollment remains disproportionate; about 20% to 10% for white, Hispanic and Asian students.
Dive Insight:
When federal leaders discuss the predatory practices used by for-profit institutions to recruit and exploit students for federal aid money, this is the underreported statistic that families and students do not typically hear. And with these stats is the harrowing reality that many of these students, already saddled with debt which the federal government has slowed in forgiving as it promised, will not be able to transfer credits over to a more industry-friendly institution.
Several non-profit institutions have worked to ease the burden on these students with credentialing and continuing learning access to traditional degree programs, but can the marketing be effective enough to convince them that traditional higher ed will work when programs with greater convenience and access have not? For many of the students who may have significant deficits in course mastery and training, is there any impact institutions with traditional offerings can truly have, without saddling learners with more debt and frustration?
