The Covid-19 pandemic, however, presents an interesting opportunity for for-profit schools, in part because most of them already have a well-established online learning infrastructure. The for-profit education industry has proven fairly resilient in its short history. It survived the housing bubble and crash, as well as major regulatory issues in past years. Read on for a look at for-profit education as an investment and what’s performing best during the pandemic era.
For-Profit Schools as an Investment
The return on investment in for-profit schools at one point was quite solid. Indeed, the 1990s was a time that was very conducive to the expansion of for-profit schools. The Republican-controlled Congress since 1994 enacted policies favorable to for-profit colleges, such as allowing bonuses for recruiting new students. Education became big business, perhaps best exemplified by Corinthian Colleges. Founded in 1995, Corinthian Colleges established a profitable business of acquiring good but underperforming colleges and revitalizing them. Eventually, Corinthian Colleges had a robust portfolio of schools and was publicly traded.