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The panel of college administrators waxed enthusiastic about the measurable efficiency, high retention and graduate rates and career attainments and achievements of their graduates, the majority of whom are minority and low-income students. It was clear that they felt their colleges had the solution to the major woes of higher education: quality; relevance; and measurable, accountable success. Those colleges cost more, but they give value.
What are these paragons of higher education?
They are the growing number of "for-profit" colleges and "universities" proliferating in all the major cities of America - and increasingly, in foreign cities as well. A panel of educators met at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) in Washington, D.C., on June 6 to discuss them. Are they a solution?
Corinthian Colleges is an example: it is one of the biggest for-profit higher education institutions in the U.S. "Founded in 1995, Corinthian Colleges has expanded rapidly through acquisitions of smaller institutions, establishing branches and public offerings. Currently, 72,000 students are enrolled in 23 states. The colleges have an annual revenue of $1 billion," said Mark Palesh, the legal affairs director, a panelist at the AEI discussion.
"For-profit colleges focus on the changing higher education market - which is no longer the 'traditional' 18- to 22-year-old, full-time, first-time student seeking a four-year liberal arts degree," said panel moderator Paul Fein of The Chronicle of Higher Education. "In America today, more than half...