Selling a Dream: The Trouble With For-Profit Education
For as long as I can remember, I wanted to be a college professor. I dreamt of days sharing the glories of literature with students and nights toiling away grading papers and writing books. There was just one small thing standing in my way: the meager (if not nonexistent) chance an English Lit PhD actually has of actually becoming a professor.
My bubble officially burst one day when my youngest professor took it upon herself to explain the realities of obtaining a PhD. She told me that, when she graduated, there were 4 (4!) tenure-track jobs in the country for her to apply for. In the entire U.S. As if that weren’t bad enough, I also had another dream: a dream of living in New York. In no uncertain terms, my professor told me I’d have to pick one – because both together were unlikely to happen.
I’m not usually one to back down from a challenge, but my desire to create a life in New York proved to be a lot stronger than my desire to become a professor. So I decided to take time off after graduation to figure things out. I started out working at a bank but then I got what I thought was the next best thing to my dream job – I was hired as an admissions counselor for an art school. I went in thinking it was the best of both worlds – but it turned out yet another bubble was getting ready to burst. Why? Because I was working for a for-profit college.
Selling a Dream
I still remember my first week at the new job. Fresh-faced students lugged their art supplies around and the walls were covered in paintings, interior design mockups, and graphic design projects. I could barely contain my excitement when I got off on the Admissions Department floor and headed to my new office. I was a little disheartened by the work when I got my assignments (more on that later), but still – I was going to change lives!
By my first Friday, all hell had broken loose. The Director of Admissions was called into the Dean’s office and it didn’t take long for the yelling to start. Turns out, he was being fired. The very person who hired me was on his way out the door. The rest of the admissions counselors and I looked at each other and wondered, what just happened here?
The Dean came in and told us there was nothing to worry about and that we should continue our work until she hired a new director. So I sat down with my call sheet and got to work. Yes, call sheet. Little did I know before getting the job, but “admissions counselor” at a for-profit school is nothing more than a sales job. I wasn’t hired to help incoming freshman create the college path of their dreams. I was hired to make 75 phone calls a day, schedule 25 appointments a week, have at least 10 of those people actually show up for their appointments, and achieve one enrollment per week. And if I didn’t hit those numbers, I would be following my original hiring manager out the door…
Here’s how it would all go down:
Student sees ad on a website. They fill in their information.
Admissions counselor calls student, usually gets hung up on. Admissions counselor passes all unsuccessful calls to the next counselor.
For those who do come in for an appointment, the admissions counselor talks to them about the different majors and gives them a tour of the campus. They then go back to the office and pick out a major and sign an enrollment form.
Admissions counselor sends student to financial aid office, where they promptly get approved for loans (they always got approved); and they’re off to get ready for their first day.
Relatively few students ever show up on the first day, even fewer finish a quarter, and barely any graduate. But they still have loans to pay…
I didn’t see this cycle at first because the school was so great at selling to us so we could sell to prospective students. “You’re selling a dream!” they told us. “You’re changing lives. It’s not easy work, but just think of what it will do for them. After all, the school has a 90%+ job placement rate!”
Another Bubble Burst
It took me an embarrassingly long time to see what was really happening. At that time in my life I saw only good in everything – and those few students I enrolled were committed and kept me going. They even visited me frequently to show me their projects! But it did start to wear on me when I finally saw the truth. Of course they had high job placement rates! With only a handful of students actually graduating, it would be easy to find them jobs. But what about all those students who signed up for loans that they’d have to repay – but who would never find a job because they didn’t graduate?
Just two months in, I knew I had to get out. Luckily I’d saved money by living with my parents – so I quit and fulfilled my dream of moving to New York.
Understanding the Danger of For-Profit Schools
After working for ReadyForZero years later, it became clear to me how dangerous schools like the one I’d worked for really are. It became so clear that I tried not to even think about the fact that I was too naive to see that when I was younger. But a recent post by The Atlantic has brought this issue to light for me and for many who need to see the potential dangers of attending for-profit schools.
Paul Campos wrote this article in The Atlantic to expose for-profit law schools that were admitting students who were unlikely to ever pass the bar – and thus unable to practice law. What’s worse, these students finance their education with loans – loans that they may never be able to pay back since they won’t be able to work in their field:
“This world is one in which schools accredited by the American Bar Association admit large numbers of severely underqualified students; these students in turn take out hundreds of millions of dollars in loans annually, much of which they will never be able to repay. Eventually, federal taxpayers will be stuck with the tab, even as the schools themselves continue to reap enormous profits.”
Just how much do these students on average take out in debt? The numbers are nothing to be balked at:
“According to data from the schools themselves, more than 90 percent of the 1,191 students who graduated from InfiLaw schools in 2013 carried educational debt, with a median amount, by my calculation, of approximately $204,000, when accounting for interest accrued within six months of graduation—meaning that a single year’s graduating class from these three schools was likely carrying about a quarter of a billion dollars of high-interest, non-dischargeable, taxpayer-backed debt.”
And the dangers this can have not just on taxpayers, but on the students themselves, is alarming:
“From the perspective of graduates who can’t pay back their loans, however, this dream is very much a nightmare. Indeed, it’s easy to make the case that these students wind up in far worse shape than defaulting homeowners do, thanks to two other differences between subprime mortgages and educational loans. First, educational debt, unlike mortgages, can almost never be discharged in bankruptcy, and will continue to follow borrowers throughout their adult lives. And second, mortgages are collateralized by an asset—that is, a house—that usually retains significant value. By contrast, anecdotal evidence suggests that many law degrees that do not lead to legal careers have a negative value, because most employers outside the legal profession don’t like to hire failed lawyers.”
For students who’ve already enrolled, there’s not much they can do but work as hard as possible to make sure they graduate and pass the bar. Or, if they are going to leave, that they do it as soon as possible so they don’t incur even more debt.
But if you’re a prospective student, then you have an opportunity to think through your decision carefully to ensure that you’re making a good financial decision.
What to Do Before Financing an Education
As predatory as some for- profit colleges can be, I would venture to say that good can still come of them if they are your only option. However, that can only happen if you carefully weigh your options and are fully committed to graduating. Whether your college is for-profit or non-profit, there are a few things that you should think about before signing those enrollment papers. Here are just a few questions to ask yourself:
How long have you been interested in your program?
Are you truly passionate about the program – or does it just sound interesting?
Do your research on your program outside of what universities and colleges show you. What kind of jobs can it lead to? Is it really what you want to do for the rest of your life – or does it sound like a nice option right now? What will those jobs pay? Does that pay justify the cost of the degree? Are those jobs available where you live or plan to live?
Do you have the skills to succeed in the program?
Do you have the skills to succeed in the job after the program?
One way to know if a program is right for your skillset is to look at the classes required, the syllabi, and the books you’d have to buy. This will give you an overview of what you’ll really be studying and required to do day in and day out. Then look at the work itself – many programs require one skillset while the job requires another. Law school, for instance, is based on theoretical study. The actual practice of law is a whole ‘nother beast and the transition can be tough for law graduates as they learn what it takes to build their own practice or work for a firm, court, or company.
Above all, before you make a decision, wait. The name of the game in admissions for for-profit colleges is to get people enrolled quickly so they will actually follow through. But as I said, many don’t. Likely it’s because they rushed into a decision they weren’t ready for.
Take your time. Do your research. Exhaust all options to make sure your educational pursuit is one that will lead you to happiness and career and financial success. And if anyone ever tries to rush you into this life-changing decision, that’s a sign that this particular educational institution might not be the one for you. Remember: it’s your life. Make sure your decisions will benefit you now and later and that you fully understanding what you’re getting into. Then you can feel confident in your decision and pave the path to a bright future!
2 Responses to “Selling a Dream: The Trouble With For-Profit Education”
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You understand that community colleges even have a less than 12 percent graduation rate right? And let me understand this-when a person goes to a non for profit school and gets in debt with student loans it’s the non for profit’s school’s fault right? There are just as many students whip graduate from non for profit schools who can’t find jobs and leave with tons of debt as well-why are the facts I mentioned above not mentioned in this article?
Thanks for sharing, Tom. The reason we focused on for-profit colleges for this piece is because I was relating my experience specifically from those types of institutions. Having worked at a for-profit college vs going to a traditional college, I noticed a distinct difference in how much time it took to get loans and pressure to enroll. Unfortunately, my job at a for-profit college was a sales job ultimately and required us to get students loans for school and enrolled as soon as possible.