Robert Holland, Lexington Institute
December 2003
This brief piece provides an overview of the growth of for-profit providers of higher education and contends that Congress should put these schools on equal footing with traditional universities in the upcoming reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. In 1998, Congress made students in for-profit schools eligible for Title IV aid (such as Pell Grants, Perkins and Stafford Loans, Federal work study programs, and more), but has not yet made this allowance for non-Title-IV aid, (such as Title V, which supports Hispanic-serving institutions), "effectively banning" aid for a number of colleges serving minority students. Holland notes that for-profit institutions now run 46 percent of all post-secondary schools, accounting for about half a million students and a large number of minorities. He judges that it's time for them to have full access to every sort of federal aid and attempts to cement his point with a diatribe against the excesses in traditional public colleges and universities, mercilessly recounting extravagant outlays on whirlpools, climbing walls, and the like. The implication is that for-profit institutions may offer a more efficient investment for federal dollars. The argument is logical on its face, but unfortunately the paper doesn't provide more than a cursory explanation of the proposal, or of Federal aid programs in general, in order that the reader can make an informed decision. In the end, it's valuable mainly as an introduction to the for-profit sector of postsecondary education - and as a source of telling anecdotes about lavish spending in the non-profit sector. To find a copy on-line, visit http://www.lexingtoninstitute.org/education/HigherEd2003.pdf.
