The impetuous increase of career oriented commercial high schools in the USA during last decade is characterized by the specialists as “a private revolution”. Reflecting the political and economic tendencies of privatization, the for-profit higher education expanded greatly. It leads “major higher education changes fitting higher education reform trends internationally, from finance to governance, accountability, autonomy, accreditation and much more” (Altbach and Levi 293).
The followers of the idea of private higher education claim that they provide the students with the knowledge that meets the brand-new requirements of the modern marketplace, while many complain, on the contrary, that the major goal all private colleges are revolved at is making money but not the achievement of high rates of studying,. Supported by the government, the for-profit education tends to monopolize the sphere of higher education. Gone are the times when the private higher education was the privilege of the elite class of society. Nowadays the government cares that everyone can be bowled to death. The percentage of private colleges should be increased and public higher schools must be substituted for them.
The major reason for this is the fact that the for-profit colleges offer their students the knowledge of higher quality. They also declare that they “prepare students for gainful employment in a recognized occupation.” (“Feds: Cut Aid to For-Profit Schools”). Less regulated and controlled by the government in comparison with public institutions, private higher schools offer the students their own vision of what the students should learn in order to get a gainful employment.
Thousands of unemployed former private college students might apparently support the idea. Senator Tom Harkin, the chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, admits that there is a great deal of graduates who treat his office. “Attracted by the aggressive recruitment and advertising strategies, students leave proprietary schools unemployed” (Dias). It’s obvious that the measure of the quality of education should be the value of the graduate as a professional in the area they aimed at. This is precisely why private higher institutions should play a substantial role in the educational system of the country.
Another positive point that should be accounted is that the for-profit higher schools are donated by the government. This fact allows them to cut tuitions and make the courses available for the young people from all the social classes. For example, Ben Elgin and Jessica Silver-Greenberg declare that “the University of Phoenix, a unit of publicly traded Apollo Group (APOL) and the biggest recipient of governmental student aid, received more than three quarters of $3.1 billion of the federal student aid” (Elgin and Silver-Greenberg).
The taxpayers foot the bill while Tom Harkin’s findings show that “the government is not provided with the information how proprietary institutions spend the money” (Dias). So, together with paying tax American parents should start collecting money for paying the courses their children want to take up. There is no doubt that the citizens support the idea that the government takes their tax dollars in order to invest them into education as well as into filling the pockets of the owners of the for-profit higher institutions.
What’s more, with intention to make the for-profit education more available, the for-profit schools are known to cut the costs that students spend on their studies. It’s remarkable that such an effect is achieved at the expense of the quality of studying. It is widely recognized that in many cases for-profit graduates are over their head in debt while their training level is of the little value. Moreover, cutting tuitions by the for-profit higher schools often means several limits for students in taking part in extracurricular activities.
All in all, there remain very few subjects under the bottom line in the for-profit higher institutions. It is believed that they are the very subjects that must be useful in the students’ career. That’s why the for-profit education should be supported and spread into different spheres, from governmental to social ones. It is also widely recognized that for-profit college graduates end up with the overwhelming debt loads.
According to the Washington Times, “the study in April by the College Board found that 53 percent of for-profit-college students finish with more than $30,500 in debt, compared to 12 percent of students at four-year public schools” (“Feds: Cut Aid to For-Profit Schools”). However, the for-profit institutions are claimed to provide their students with a job. It’s the very smart decision of them as after graduating from the college or the university on the commercial basis young people will have to “carry their debts up to 10 years or more” (“Feds: Cut Aid to For-Profit Schools”). The fact proves that higher education is of the great value in our country.
Taking everything into account, it’s necessary to say that the for-profit education is the way the educational system of the USA should keep to. Students apparently don’t need to learn all the subjects provided by public higher schools as well as there is no necessity for them to train the skills to become valuable professionals. Summing up, the for-profit higher institutions prepare young people for work all over the world by means of offering such education that suits the major brand-new tendencies at the world marketplace.
Furthermore, such colleges and universities give the opportunity for the youth from all over the country to get the education they want and work in the sphere they are aimed at. Those of students who enter such institutions to get only a degree support the idea of the higher education on the commercial basis especially hard.
Therefore, this kind of education should monopolize the sphere of education and the USA has taken the first steps in this direction. Toby Young, the British journalist, assures to “change the education provider from local authority to private one as there was such a great effect privately run schools had in the USA that lots of public schools had to be closed” (Vaughan). They don’t take into account, however, the vast majority of people who cannot allow this.
Works Cited
Altbach, Philip G., and Levy, Daniel C. Private Higher Education: A Global Revolution. Boston: Sense Publishers, 2005.
Dias, Elizabeth. “For-Profit Colleges: Educators or Predators?”. Time 2010: n. pag. Web.
Elgin, Ben, and Silver-Greenberg, Jessica. “For-Profit Colleges: Scooping Up the Stimulus”. Bloomberg Businessweek. 2009: n. pag. Web.
Vaughan, Richard. “Now Young Turns to For-Profit Partners”. Tes. 2010: n. pag. Web.
“Feds: Cut Aid to For-Profit Schools”. The Washington Times. 2010: n. pag. Web.