Dive Brief:
- The New York Times investigated the shift to nonprofit status by a number of private colleges and universities and found that school leadership has earned millions in the process.
- In 2011, the owners of Florida-based Keiser University sold the school to the nonprofit Everglades College, which they had originally created, and then continued to run the university much as they had before. University President Arthur Keiser’s salary was $856,000 more than the Harvard president’s in 2012, according to the New York Times’ review of tax returns.
- Critics claim the move from for-profit to non-profit status is done to avoid federal regulations or, more benignly, the bad reputation for-profit colleges have earned in recent years.
Dive Insight:
The for-profit college industry has been under siege for years as critics have accused institutions of luring students for the financial aid dollars and then saddling them with debt that they can’t find jobs to pay off. The large profits in the multi-billion dollar industry, too, have drawn suspicion and scorn. The New York Times investigation, however, hints at the damage done across the industry for the unscrupulous actions of certain institutions. Turning themselves into nonprofits may be a philosophy-shift companies have to adopt to survive.
