We’ve all certainly experienced the pain of trying to pay for college. It’s stressful, exceedingly expensive and the cost only seems to rise by the year.
Therefore, it’s insane that some colleges are charging students for classes they aren’t taking and charging them even after they notify the institution that they are withdrawing.
Lately, these colleges, known as “for-profit” institutions, are charging their students exorbitant fees and often times it is the government stuck footing the bill.
“For-profit” institutions are classified as colleges that are run by private organizations with specific interests in mind. These institutions are generally geared toward making money, and producing their students as commodities. These colleges are often willing to fluctuate the way in which they offer education due to the fact that it is merely a business, rather than an institute of higher learning.
The colleges that fall under this category are universities such as DeVry University, Kaplan University, University of Phoenix and the Art Institutes. One of the biggest issues with these institutions is that they are charging outrageous fees for their students to attend classes.
Generally, students attending “for-profit” universities end up paying more than students at private and public universities combined.
“Students at for-profit colleges, which rely on federal financial-aid programs for as much as 90 percent of revenue, carry the biggest loans in U.S. higher education,” according to Education Trust, a research and student-advocacy center. “Bachelor’s degree recipients at for-profits have median debt of $31,190 compared with $17,040 at private, not-for-profit institutions and $7,960 at public colleges.”
These “for-profit” colleges end up being insanely more expensive than private and public universities, providing degrees to students that will not go nearly as far toward building a career or a life.
This idea irks me. I justify the cost of higher education for just that reason; I’m receiving higher education that will help me establish a career and lead a successful life. I cannot imagine the fury my parents and I would feel if we dumped time and money into a university that exists only to suck up my money and leave me empty-handed.
President Barack Obama has proposed a new rule that would keep these institutions from gouging their students and giving them no real results. The rule would say that these institutions could no longer receive Title IV funding if they did not actually train students for the working world.
This is an excellent idea because it benefits everyone. It helps students and their families from being tricked into spending thousands for a degree that will do nothing for them. It saves students from falling into hopeless pits of debt that will affect their lives for years to come. It also saves tax payers from having to clean up the mess that these “for-profit” colleges endlessly generate.
I would like to see all illegitimate “for-profit” institutions shut down immediately. They give higher education a bad name. Although it is expected that college will be expensive, it should be a worthy investment, not a black hole that students are tossing their—and taxpayer—money into.
