The Problems of Accreditation of For-Profit Institutions

The Problems of Accreditation of For-Profit Institutions

March 14, 2016 | ITHAKA | NEWS

In my most recent blog post, I compared financial aid data for the 2013-14 academic year with that of previous years. One interesting finding was that the share of Pell enrollments at for-profit institutions has declined by 22 percent since it peaked in 2009-10. As explained in the blog, this decline coincides with the federal government’s efforts to crack down on students’ low-value use of Pell grants, specifically at for-profit institutions. For-profit programs, according to the federal Department of Education, “are most likely to leave their students with unaffordable debts and poor employment prospects.” To combat this, the Department has...

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