Learning From The Enemy: Educational Methods Of Private, For Profit Colleges

Private, for-profit schools represent the fastest growing segment of higher education. These schools have focused on the education of adults and have developed student services that increase enrollment and graduation of students from underrepresented groups. They have also developed educational methods that are effective with their students and result in student learning. Their training programs for new faculty are often exemplary although faculty have significantly less power than at traditional universities. The missions of for-profit and traditional universities are different, but traditional universities can learn from the successes of for-profit schools in training faculty and educating students. Introduction Private, for-profit colleges have been very successful in the US and are rapidly growing, as approximately 2500 for-profit institutions provide post-secondary education to approximately 1.6 million students. 1 Most of these are trade schools that do not compete directly with traditional colleges and universities and do not have regional accreditation; however, the largest private for-profit schools such as the University of Phoenix, Strayer and DeVry University compete with traditional schools and have regional accreditation. 2-4 Only forprofit schools with regional accreditation will be discussed in this paper. Much of the success of for-profit institutions has been due to a focus on working adults, now the largest group of college students 1, 2, 4, 5 Adults are also a market segment that traditional universities have not served well. For-profit colleges have developed customer service procedures, educational methods, and policies that help them graduate working adults quickly. They claim, and companies paying many of the students’ bills and accreditation agencies agree, that their students learn. This paper examines some of their educational methods and discusses which ones might be adopted by non-profit schools. The major focus will be on the largest private university in the US, the University of Phoenix, which currently has more than 200,000 students and over 19,000 faculty 6 , and DeVry University, a private for-profit university heavily involved with engineering and information technology education with over 52,000 students 7 . Customer Service First, successful for-profit schools pay particular attention to customer service. 2-9 They direct staff to establish personal relationships with students. Staff are cross-trained so that one person can help students and potential students with a variety of registration, financial aid and advising concerns. Special care is given to ensure that students obtain the maximum amount of government financial aid that is available. For example, more than 70 % of DeVry University students receive some form of government aid, 4 and 66% of the income on a cash accounting basis of ITT Educational Services, Inc. was from Federal Government financial aid programs. 10 Students can often enroll, register, and fill out federal financial aid forms working with a single person. This “one-stop shopping” is one of the organizational P ge 11874.2 structures that for-profit schools use that increase graduation rates. 8 Student Services offices are at convenient locations usually in the same building as classrooms and these offices are open in the evening and weekends when many students come to the building for class. Buildings, which are usually leased, are chosen to be functional instead of collegiate, are in convenient locations (close to where students live or work), and have sufficient parking. Forprofit schools tend to have a low student-to-adviser ratio. Getting the students into the right class is a high priority. 2 Adult learners (the target of for-profit institutions) are interested in earning a degree quickly 2, 5, 8 and they want to take the right class at the right time , which easy access to an adviser helps to guarantee. Convenient schedules, the ability to graduate quickly, and a low student-to-adviser ratio all help increase graduation rates. 8 At the undergraduate level, for-profit schools are not highly selective and often have open admissions. These schools generally charge less than private non-profit schools but more than state schools (for in-state residents). The for-profit schools claim that they educate students who can’t afford private non-profit schools but are unable to get into less expensive public institutions. 2 The for-profit schools make it easier to enroll than most non-profit schools. Some critics claim it is too easy to enroll and that the for-profits use pressure tactics. 2,11 Abuses at for-profit schools in the 1990’s eventually led to a federal law outlawing incentive pay, commissions or bonuses for recruiters. There have also been complaints about the web advertising used by for-profits. 12 The for-profit schools claim recruitment abuses no longer occur; however, the University of Phoenix did settle complaints by paying the largest fine ever levied by the U.S. Department of Education. 13 Also, with more than 5000 “enrollment counselors” at the University of Phoenix 11 and more than 500 “undergraduate admissions representatives” at DeVry, 4 recruitment is clearly important for the for-profit schools. Either in spite of or because of these tactics, for-profit schools have been very good at recruiting adults, particularly women and minorities. They not only recruit, they also enroll, graduate and educate adults, particularly women and minorities at high rates. “For-profit institutions enroll only about 8 percent of postsecondary students, but they enroll 16 percent of all black students, 14 percent of Hispanic student, and 4 percent of Native American students.” (ref 2, p. 36) Among degree-granting institutions for-profits enroll 2.4 percent of the students. 13 “In fact, the top producers of minority baccalaureates in engineering-related technologies were ITT Technical Institutes in California, and the number two and three institutions conferring bachelor’s degrees in computer and information science on African Americans were Strayer College and DeVry Institute of Technology.” (ref 2, p. 36) The two main reasons for-profits have done so well with minorities is that their mission has been to provide a practical instead of a liberal arts education and, as noted, they pay attention to services, which is particularly important when nobody in the student’s family is familiar with college. 8 Student placement after graduation is also a major concern of the for-profits. 4,9,10 Extensive service is again the norm and reasonably high placement rates are reported. For example, DeVry University reported that for the 7,538 graduates for the classes of 2002, 2003, and 2004, 84.7 % “were employed in positions related to their program of study within six months of graduation.” (ref 4, pp. 30-31) ITT Educational Services reported that P ge 11874.3 approximately 69% of their graduates were employed “in positions that required the direct or indirect use of skills taught in their programs of study.” (ref 10, p. C-10) On the other hand, there have been recent complaints that some for-profit colleges inflate their job claims. 14, 15 Some of the negative aspects of the student services of for-profit schools have been emphasized to serve as a counterweight for my mainly laudatory comments about the educational practices of the regionally accredited for-profit schools. The negative aspects of the for-profits in student services should also be balanced with the problems they don’t have: student athletic scandals, misuse of donor funds, excessive student drinking, rowdy fraternities, and overhead scandals on government research contracts. Student Learning The mission of the University of Phoenix “is to service the educational needs of working adult students.” (ref 2, p. 61) Since working adults want accessibility and flexibility, campuses are in cities and most classes are in the evening and on weekends. Because of open admissions, classes start at the students’ educational level. Since about 30 % of University of Phoenix students are supported by their companies, the education is practical. A practical education is also motivational since students, who are mainly working adults, can see immediate applications in their jobs. As part of the focus on serving the customer, the pedagogical approach is learner-centered. For-profit schools believe in customer service, but the customer is not always right. John Sperling, the founder of the University of Phoenix, stated that customers “are entitled to timely, accurate responses delivered in a courteous manner. It does not mean the answer is always “yes.”” (quoted in ref 2, p. 77) The University of Phoenix and many of the non-profits have a class attendance policy, “And we run it like the Marines. Attendance is mandatory.” (John Sperling quoted in ref 2, p. 83) At the University of Phoenix the teaching-learning model is based on Malcolm Knowles’ principles of adult learning. 2 Students all receive clear learning objectives, which are identical throughout the University of Phoenix system. Student groups and active learning are extensively employed. 2, 3, 5, 16 Faculty serve mainly as facilitators not lecturers. They lead discussions, relate the material to the students’ personal experiences, use case studies and collaborative learning. The transmission of knowledge is considered to be more appropriate for younger students, not adult students who have considerable work and life experience. 2 At DeVry, which teaches both younger students and adults, the curriculum is very hands-on with extensive laboratory work. 4 In addition to weekly class meetings (typical class size for the University of Phoenix is 15 2, 6 ), students meet weekly with their 3 to 5 person learning groups. Students practice applying principles and concepts over-and-over in a safe environment. All writing is done following business formats. Instructors use