Later this month, millions of students will be returning to college while others will be attending for the very first time. While the cost of college has put a strain on the bank accounts of millions of American families, some for-profit colleges are making a killing – while killing the career hopes of the students they’re supposed to serve.
During the recent Great Recession, millions of Americans enrolled at for-profit colleges with hopes of becoming more employable. Annual revenues at these institutions grew more than 600 percent from 2000 to 2011, reaching $32.7 billion. As of 2017, more than 1 million students were enrolled in such schools. For-profit colleges market to and attract a disproportionate number of veterans and students of color, with African-Americans and Latinos making up almost half their enrollment.
Yet, only one-in-four students who enrolls in a four-year for-profit school actually graduates within six years while for not for profit colleges, roughly 60 percent do. And while for-profit schools make up only 13 percent of all college students, they account for 47 percent of student loan defaults.