Holding a college degree, it is widely assumed, improves the likelihood that a person will be successful in the labor market. This maxim draws individuals into college across the class spectrum and aspiring students who are low-income or non-white may find themselves enrolled at a for-profit college.
For profit colleges have been getting slammed for their high prices, low bars, and atrocious graduation rates. Now we have another reason to worry that these institutions are doing more harm than good.
Economist Rajeev Darolia and his colleagues sent out 8,914 fictitious resumes and waited to see if they received a response. They were interested in whether attending a for-profit college actually enhanced job opportunities, as ads for such schools claim, so they varied the level of education on the resumes and whether the applicant attended a for-profit or community college.
It turns out that employers evaluate applicants who attended two-year community colleges and those who attended for-profit colleges about equally. Community colleges, in other words, open just as many doors to possibility as for-profit ones.
Darolia and his colleagues then tested whether employers displayed a preference for applicants who went to for-profit colleges versus applicants with no college at all. They didn’t. Employers treated people with high school diplomas and coursework at for-profit colleges equivalently.
Being economists, they staidly conclude that enrolling in a for-profit college is a bad investment.
H/t Gin and Tacos. Image borrowed from Salon.com. Cross-posted at Pacific Standard.
Lisa Wade, PhD is an Associate Professor at Tulane University. She is the author of American Hookup, a book about college sexual culture; a textbook about gender; and a forthcoming introductory text: Terrible Magnificent Sociology. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Comments 58
ExFPEmployee — August 26, 2014
Many years ago I worked for a very large for profit. They had done an internal study to look at how employers saw their degrees. What they found was as follows:
Community College Associates = For-profit associates PLUS 1-2 years experience
Bachelors degree from any non-profit = For-profit bachelors PLUS 3-5 years experience
Masters degree from any non-profit= For-profit masters plus 6-10 years experience
In other words, you needed substantial experience on top of the degree from this institution to make up for the fact that the degree was from this institution.
They knew this and talked about it, but it didn't change their strategy - they still went for volume enrollments and dumbing down the curriculum to get more through (although still not many). Part of why I am an ex-employee...
analog2000 — August 26, 2014
I'm confused. If "employers evaluate applicants who attended two-year community colleges and those who attended for-profit colleges about equally," and "Employers treated people with high school diplomas and coursework at for-profit colleges equivalently," doesn't that mean that employers treated people who attend community colleges equivalently to those who have only a high school diploma?
If A=B and B=C, A=C. I clicked and read the study, and it says "estimates of the community college effect are consistently positive but not statistically significant."
So why is the conclusion you are drawing for profit=waste of time and money? This study also shows that community colleges are ALSO a waste of time and money, as employers do not see them as any different from a high school diploma.
I am not a fan of for-profit colleges, but this is a dishonest way to present this research.
Bill R — August 26, 2014
I am usually excited about alternatives to the traditional approach, especially those that focus on discrete skill sets and aim to educate adults, but this one seems to be heading south fast.
I'm surprised actually that American entrepreneurs, who deliver quality and profits in the face of stiff competition in so many service-oriented businesses, have managed to muck this up so badly.
Kelli Alves — August 26, 2014
I have a close friend who has a degree in education (or something) from Phoenix Univ. She then used that to go to another institution of questionable reputation to get her masters. And now guess what? She teaches middle school math for a Georgia school district.
And we wonder why our kids are doing so poorly in school.
N G — August 27, 2014
I went to phoenix and I'm making 225k a year, it all depends on how hard you work and in all honesty all education is full of it, it doesn't matter what school you go to, unless you go to school in the medical field or to become a lawyer
Michael Heer — August 28, 2014
I used to be an agency recruiter and my clients would almost never choose to interview someone with a for-profit college on their resume. Early on I figured out to just discard these resumes. Now granted my clients were paying me 25-30% of the first year salary when hiring someone through me so they expected I'd find better candidates than they could find on their own. Even if someone had an undergraduate degree from a reputable university but got a masters from a for-profit, many employers would rather not even know they have a masters. The masters from the for-profit was actually a detractor rather than a positive addition.
I don't think employers think someone can't get a good education from a for-profit college; but that someone that went to a for-profit school either has poor judgement for thinking that was a good investment or they must have not been smart enough to get into a better school. In many cases that isn't true but that's the perception of the educated public in hiring manager roles.
Brad — August 28, 2014
All the For-Profit schools are a joke and a bunch of smoke and mirrors!!! I was enrolled in one and I was wondering why a teacher gave me a 92% when I didn't understand any of the questions and was late handing it so I guessed on the rest of the questions. So either I have great guessing skills or the teacher didn't even look at it and slapped a grade on it. So I did my recon mission. I handed in a Noodle Soup recipe as a math assignment. So I waited a few days for the teacher to grade it. To my amazement I got a 100% on the assignment. LMAO. It should be a 0%!!!! Its a noodle soup recipe!! Obviously nothing to do with the class or the assignment! It was a math class not a cooking class!! What a joke. So I wasted a 1 1/2 years at that place. Who knows if I did ANYTHING right in previous classes and previous assignments!! BIG SCAM!!!
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Gregg Meiklejohn — September 24, 2014
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PeterRees — April 22, 2020
There are two completely different approaches to this, so it's hard to argue. The system of education itself is different, but the structure and what they want to get as a result is somewhat similar. You need to attract students to academic writing, so read and use this in education www.teacherph.com/6-strategies-to-engage-average-students-in-academic-writing/, the system is the same. It's just great when you can find 6 strategies to engage average students in academic writing.
Henry Foster — July 30, 2021
A "school" in the U.S. can refer to any educational institution - not only junior high and high schools, but also courses, institutes, colleges, and universities. Institutes in the U.S. refer to educational institutions that are authorized to award only professional certificates, continuing education certificates, etc., rather than higher education diplomas. To get such a diploma you need to get good grades, fortunately now there are many different services (eg https://legitwritingservices.com/reviews/essaypro/) where every student can get the necessary help. It is true that sometimes the word "institute" can be found in the names of university departments that engage in in-depth education and research.
Bill Shiphr — September 14, 2021
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