More Black Californians attending for-profit colleges. Why experts want to change that – The Fresno Bee
Black Californians are being steered toward for-profit colleges at double the rate than their white counterparts, a new study by the Campaign for College Opportunity found, a trend that carries with it higher debt and poorer graduation rates than public colleges.
California has the fifth-largest population of Black people in the U.S. at 2.1 million, or 5.5% of the state’s population. About 18% of Black students in the state attend a for-profit institution, according to the report. For-profit college students are more likely to be Black and female, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
In fall 2018, 38% of Black transfer students enrolled in a private for-profit institution, compared to 15% in fall 2016, according to the report, the State of Higher Education for Black Californians.
“For-profit colleges and universities have generally low completion rates, higher debt burdens for students, and higher default rates than institutions and other sectors,” said Vikash Reddy, senior director of policy research for the Campaign for College Opportunity.
Reddy said the Campaign found that 42% of for-profit colleges and universities in California offered no payoff for their students.
“In contrast, 90% of public institutions provided a payoff within five years,” he said.