For-Profit Colleges Essay

You ever watch television and see the commercials for colleges and hear the people say â€Å"this college changed my life† or hear that the school has classes for the major your interested in. Then you get the urge to go back to school and you see that there’s not much requirements to get into these schools as long as you have money for tuition. Those are what you call for-profit schools. Now the question is are these schools actually good for you? Can they help you in the long run or just give you classes and you’re on your own after you get the degree. I feel that for-profit schools should not be federally regulated because these colleges provide opportunities for students ignored and rejected by traditional colleges, they provide flexibility for students and some regulations may reduce graduation rates. Some people didn’t do the best in high school or probably didn’t finish high school and have a GED but still want to attend college. Most tradition and private colleges probably won’t even look at their application if their grade point average is below a certain number or if they don’t have a high school diploma. This is why we need for-profit colleges because they tend to those people who still want to further their education. It may seem like for-profit colleges only focus on getting money from students but they still offer the same education that private and traditional colleges offer just in a different way or amount of time. If there is government regulation then most people probably wouldn’t be able to attend any schools. With government regulations, there’s most likely going to be government requirements along with the school requirements. â€Å"The for-profit sector is not only more robust than the rest of higher education, it is helping to force some changes in the way traditional colleges do business. †(Wilson) For-profit colleges are giving traditional colleges a run for their money. Not only do these colleges help those who can’t get into traditional and private schools it also helps adults who are working during the day or have children. For-profit colleges provide connivence and flexibility. They offer a lot of classes online and during hours that some other colleges may not be open. Most for-profit schools classes are in sessions and not just spread out throughout the day. â€Å"The Art Institute of Pittsburgh runs three sessions a day: from 8am until noon, 1pm until 5 pm and 6pm until 10pm. † Classes like this will benefit those who can’t find a babysitter or who needs to take an extra class to get the degree they want but have a 9-5 job. Another thing is the classes aren’t as long as the traditional schools. In a traditional school you may have to take a class for four or five months. In for-profit schools the classes may last from five to nine weeks. Now that may not seem like a good idea but these classes help those students to plan their life around their schedule. Once again with government regulations it may be against the law to have classes after a certain time of day or some classes it may be mandatory to be in class and not online and then it messes with people schedule. â€Å"At a time when American public higher education is cutting budgets, laying people off, and turning away students, the rise of for-profit universities has been meteoric. † If other colleges are turning down students how will the graduation rate increase like President Obama wants it to. We need these for-profit schools to help the economy and to get more people educated and working. â€Å"Enrollment in the country’s nearly 3,ooo career colleges has grown far faster than in the rest of higher education. † This means that more people are getting an education and graduating with degrees and certificates. For-profit schools may cost more than traditional schools but the government helps traditional schools out with money. These schools are getting there revenue from sponsors and the students tuition. â€Å"For-profit universities now educate about 7 percent of the nations roughly 19 million students who enroll at degree-granting institutions each fall. And the proportion rises 10 percent, or 2. 6 million, if you count who enroll year round. † In conclusion with students enrolling into these for-profit schools and getting an education in a shorter time period than traditional schools that will increase the graduation rate. These schools teach the same information as traditional schools and the main reason why people are complaining about these schools are because they do not have accreditation. These schools have to prove themselves to get accreditation so they still have to run until they can get it. What would be the difference between the classes being taught now and when they get accreditation? Job placements for some majors are granted and some may not be because of experience not of the education.