ITT closes all campuses (2 Viewers)

[Alan]

You're in Louisiana. There's already a brain drain problem that's only going to get worse now that TOPS is likely to be severely cut for the Spring. What do you think will happen if there's zero taxpayer funding of higher ed?

I can say with certainty that there is more than enough intelligence on this board to handle educating just about every class from k - 12. Beyond that I have more than enough faith that practical experience that is COLLECTIVELY shared on this board can get all but the most specific knowledge seeking students the information they require.

Yeah....don't ask me about string theory...

 

[dgrant]

Having spent 10 years teaching in different privately owned adult education institutions, I can tell you that sometimes you get what you pay for. Our students were heads and shoulders above other institutions. We went the extra mile to get them placed in their industry. The notion that all private institutions are money grubbers and need to be shut down is absurd. That honestly is exactly what it seems like the government wants sometimes. Many private institutions must pass more stringent regulations and scrutiny than their public counterparts. I'm not defending ITT, their cost-benefit ratio has always puzzled me, but there are top notch private institutions that make sure their students get individualized attention not present in public institutions.

 

[GrandAdmiral]

Having spent 10 years teaching in different privately owned adult education institutions, I can tell you that sometimes you get what you pay for. Our students were heads and shoulders above other institutions. We went the extra mile to get them placed in their industry. The notion that all private institutions are money grubbers and need to be shut down is absurd. That honestly is exactly what it seems like the government wants sometimes. Many private institutions must pass more stringent regulations and scrutiny than their public counterparts. I'm not defending ITT, their cost-benefit ratio has always puzzled me, but there are top notch private institutions that make sure their students get individualized attention not present in public institutions.

I green-thumbed your post because from a teaching aspect, you're absolutely right. The instructors at most for-profits (and I will be specific with that term because there are many, privately-owned institutions who are non-profit) are top-notched and want nothing more for their students but to succeed.

If you look at many reports (not all), the issue hasn't been in academic rigor. It's the recruiting practices that affect academic numbers. People were being brought in who in no way should be anywhere near a college classroom. I can tell you stories of recruiters who have pulled enrollments from bar rooms just to meet their monthly quotas. Education reports don't show that. What they show are low graduation rates and horrible retention. One would think that this is a sign of horrible academic rigor, but it's not. Those numbers, for the most part, reflect the number of students who shouldn't have been allowed in the classroom in the first place.

Now believe me, that is not limited to the for-profit industry. But the reason why the for-profit industry gets called to the carpet is because many are much more bigger than traditional colleges and universities and for-profits issue much more federal financial aid than traditional schools. Therefore, they get the scrutiny.

 

[Jeff Miller]

The difference though is that in the instance of ITT, Phoenix and the like, the profits go to private shareholders and top executives not back into the institution.

yes because it's more important for academic elites to have have new administration buildings while students take classes in 300 seat auditoriums and live in dorms smaller then a OPP jail cell, while the students and parents (via loan co-signing) go 100K into debt.

But since a share holder didn't that money, that's ok.

And least we forget public primary and secondary education is a billion dollar tax pay funded business as well, that enriches administrators, book publishers and service contractors.

but profit is ok as long as you don't have divulge an income statement to the public.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

yes because it more important for academic elites have have new administration buildings while students take classes in 300 seat auditoriums and live in dorms smaller the OPP jail cells while the students and parents (via loan co-signing) go 100K into debt.

But since a share holder didn't that money, that's ok.

And least we forget public primary and secondary education is a billion dollar tax pay funded business as well, that enriches administrators, book publishers and service contractors.

but profit is ok as long as you don't have divulge an income statement to the public.

arguing for-profit universities misplace their resources doe not equal universities are fiscally/ethically responsible - we know that new building construction and new administrative postings are a HUGE drain on university coffers - BOTH should be addressed (which universal education would)