For-Profit Universities- Reaction

Before watching these videos, I thought that for-profit universities were just like community colleges but for more specialized degrees like fashion or graphic design. I believed that it was a cheap education with flexible hours. Although I was right about the flexible hours, after hearing some stories and facts, I now believe that these colleges are just scams. These schools actually cost more than the average state school in California does. I was shocked to hear that the recruiters target low income kids and even veterans solely to get government aid. Although these colleges only contain about 10% of the nation's students, they bring in about 25% of the government student aid. Before, it seemed like education is more important to these schools than it is to non-profit universities. However, my view changed when I learned that these companies spend about two times more of their profits on marketing than educators. The recruiters are taught to pick at these kids' weak points until they sign up for the university. Once they sign up, the kids are immediately brought to the financial aid office where they take out a student loan with high interest that they can't possibly pay off. I would really like to learn more about how these schools are regulated by the government and hear some statistics on how successful the average person who graduates is.