for–profit colleges and trade schools

[uscitizen]

One fast–growing American industry has become a conspicuous beneficiary of the recession: for–profit colleges and trade schools.

At institutions that train students for careers in areas like health care, computers and food service, enrollments are soaring as people anxious about weak job prospects borrow aggressively to pay tuition that can exceed $30,000 a year.

But the profits have come at substantial taxpayer expense while often delivering dubious benefits to students, according to academics and advocates for greater oversight of financial aid. Critics say many schools exaggerate the value of their degree programs, selling young people on dreams of middle–class wages while setting them up for default on untenable debts, low–wage work and a struggle to avoid poverty. And the schools are harvesting growing federal student aid dollars, including Pell grants awarded to low–income students.
in-hard-times-lured-into-trade-school-and-debt: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

 

[Old Rocks]

And we are building windmills faster than we are training technicians for them. And as high efficiency low cost solar comes on, it will be the same there. Here in Oregon most of these techs are trained in Community Colleges.

While beginning my career as a milwright, I took welding at a community college. Enjoyed the blueprint and math classes so much, that over the next six or seven years ended up with about three years worth of college in Geology. Price spiral of '72 forced me to pick up my tools again. But the combination of technical classes cheek and jowl with academic classes definately is an advantage over a school that just teachs one thing. Government educational money should go much more to communtiy colleges.

 

[Samson]

One fast–growing American industry has become a conspicuous beneficiary of the recession: for–profit colleges and trade schools.

At institutions that train students for careers in areas like health care, computers and food service, enrollments are soaring as people anxious about weak job prospects borrow aggressively to pay tuition that can exceed $30,000 a year.

But the profits have come at substantial taxpayer expense while often delivering dubious benefits to students, according to academics and advocates for greater oversight of financial aid. Critics say many schools exaggerate the value of their degree programs, selling young people on dreams of middle–class wages while setting them up for default on untenable debts, low–wage work and a struggle to avoid poverty. And the schools are harvesting growing federal student aid dollars, including Pell grants awarded to low–income students.in-hard-times-lured-into-trade-school-and-debt: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

Government educational money should go much more to communtiy colleges.

Um yes, that's the issue: The school's are simply "harvesting growing federal student aid dollars," without giving value to the service.

But, frankly, this isn't anything new.

Most Public School Systems offer a very good vocational program that lasts 3 years, and is FREE.

The problem is most parents want the fruit of their loins to go to college, so they avoid vocational programs like the plague. School counsellors respond to the parental demands by funneling all students (regardless of qualifications) into to college-prep classes. Parents then pressure teachers to retain unqualified students in college prep classes.

Finally, the Feds wanna see higher math and science test scores which may not happen if Auto-Tech and Dental Hygene is being taught.

 

[Oddball]

One fast–growing American industry has become a conspicuous beneficiary of the recession: for–profit colleges and trade schools.

At institutions that train students for careers in areas like health care, computers and food service, enrollments are soaring as people anxious about weak job prospects borrow aggressively to pay tuition that can exceed $30,000 a year.

But the profits have come at substantial taxpayer expense while often delivering dubious benefits to students, according to academics and advocates for greater oversight of financial aid. Critics say many schools exaggerate the value of their degree programs, selling young people on dreams of middle–class wages while setting them up for default on untenable debts, low–wage work and a struggle to avoid poverty. And the schools are harvesting growing federal student aid dollars, including Pell grants awarded to low–income students.
in-hard-times-lured-into-trade-school-and-debt: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

Lots of gubmint-run colleges and trade schools make the same kinds of promises and can fail equally miserably to deliver. Why aren't they also the subject of the story?

 

[chanel]

Obama includes readiness for both college and careers in his discussions of education reform — most recently last weekend, when he announced an overhaul of the No Child Left Behind law. And although the term "college" has long referred to four-year bachelor's degrees, policymakers are broadening the definition to include two-year community college degrees and other credentials earned after high school.

But what's still getting lost, some argue, is that too many students are going to college not because they want to, but because they think they have to.

It's also expressed increasingly by educators, economists and policy analysts, who question whether it's realistic and responsible to push students into college even if the odds of academic success seem low.

Economists continue to debate the nuances of trend data for jobs and wages. But some argue that college dropout rates alone suggest many students are wasting their time — and money.

Federal data show that fewer than 60% of new students graduate from four-year colleges in six years, and just one in three community college students earn a degree. More than 350,000 students who borrowed for college in 1995 had no degree six years later, according to a 2005 study for the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.

What if a college education just isn't for everyone? - USATODAY.com

Glad you brought this up uscitizen. Billions more are going to be flushed down the drain in the near future. NJ will ONLY be offering a college prep curriculum next year. Kids who can't tell time or count change will now be taking Algebra 1, 2, and Geometry, and each course will have an exit exam. Some students may never get out of high school.

A great number of our special ed. students go on to the local community college. They must take "developmental courses" before they can start any real program for college credit. Most don't even get through those. But for a teacher or guidance counselor to say "Fuhgeddaboutit" would be considered child abuse by the PC crowd. So we let them throw their money away. Or the taxpayers money, that is.

 

[goldcatt]

Not everybody is cut out for or interested in a 4-year college, or ready for it at 18. But unskilled labor is less and less likely to produce a living wage and that is only going to continue. We need to focus on promoting and destigmatizing vocational and community or junior college programs, and I'm all for bringing back the apprentice system on a wider scale. There are as many types of intelligence and skill sets out there as there are people, they should all be trained and utilized to the best of our ability. Not just the book types.

If a college or trade school can make a profit and people are willing to pay for it, I don't guess there's anything wrong with it. But there should be accreditation standards for these schools that are just as high as for traditional types, in fact I'm all for tightening the accreditation system across the board, and lack of accreditation should make any school ineligible to receive government aid money.