The University of Phoenix is in Trouble

     Wow. This is a tremor that is panicking everyone in the for profit college space and it should. 

     I almost attended UP once back in 2007-virtually attended I should say. 

     There are some real benefits of an online college that offers itself for working adults-or whoever needs an education. Traditional brick and mortar schools that are very selective in who they take obviously need a lot of prospective students in the cold. 

     But there are some real problems with this model as well. To start with-do employers credit an online education the same way they credit a brick and mortar school? If not then what exactly are online students paying for?

    By no means did I avoid this though-I ended up going to Regis University. 

    "On paper, this open access approach seemed great for students who suddenly had more educational opportunities. The problem was the cost-to-value equation was off. Students who before could try a low-cost community college with little longterm risk if they did not finish were now asked to borrow thousands of dollars to try something. The result was like flooding the system with lottery tickets where the non-winners must keep paying for a decade."

     http://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/university-of-phoenix-future-of-for-profit-colleges

    In any case, this will be food for thought for all for-profit colleges as UOP is the gold standard in for-profits. 

    "Still, even Phoenix’s diminished size is more than 200,000 students. And much like tobacco companies, it is actively pursuing opportunities in foreign markets. The company is not in great shape, but it is probably not in a tailspin yet."

    "It’s the bottom of the publicly traded college market that should be most worried about Phoenix’s repudiation of the “take everyone” model. Corporations like ITT or the Education Management Corporation are already fighting to stay in business and do not have the cash to sustain the large student losses that would come with a willingness to say no to unprepared applicants. And moving upmarket would mean completely changing their business, not just ending some bad experiments."

    "John Sperling, the University of Phoenix’s founder, died last August at the age of the 93. During his time as the head of Phoenix he showed that the right combination of factors could drive a university to a size and scale far beyond what anyone had previously imagined. But if Phoenix and the rest of the for-profit sector want to rise again, they need to recognize the truth: It was Sterling’s original vision, not the gargantuan Wall-Street-backed monster it became, that was the right model."

    From here on out, for-profit colleges are gong to have to prove they are selling something of value not just tell us they are. The proof is in the pudding-do students get the jobs they were aiming for in paying for their education? If not then the school didn't hold up it's end of the bargain. 

    http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-question-for-profit-colleges-need.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DiaryOfARepublicanHater+%28Diary+of+a+Republican+Hater%29

   http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/obama-administration-takes-action-protect-americans-predatory-poor-performing-career-colleges