(from InsideHigherEd):
By Matt Reed
Over the last couple of decades, many of us in higher ed — myself included — have fallen into a bad habit. We referred to “for-profits” or “for-profit colleges” as if the category were simply profit-making analogues of traditional colleges.
For a while, that didn’t matter much; the larger ones seemed to be shifting in the direction of tradition, and the smaller ones were too small to be of much concern. Some of the larger ones attained regional accreditation to offer degrees; others bought campuses that carried accreditations with them, like taxi medallions.
Over the last few years, of course, the degree-granting versions of for-profits have fallen on hard times. But that doesn’t mean the sector is going away; it just means that it’s moving to a new niche. CONTINUE READING HERE