COMMENTARY

College, Inc.

June 18, 2010

DONALD E HELLER, The Pennsylvania State University

The for-profit, or proprietary sector of higher education has been in the news quite a bit recently. Frontline, the PBS investigative series, broadcast "College Inc." in April, which painted a less-than-flattering portrait of the sector. And then in the end of May, Steve Eisman of FrontPoint Financial Services Fund, an analyst featured in Michael Lewis's book The Big Short, spoke at the Ira Sohn Investment Research Conference. He was quoted as saying:

"Until recently, I thought that there would never again be an opportunity to be involved with an industry as socially destructive and morally bankrupt as the subprime mortgage industry," said Eisman. "I was wrong. The For-Profit Education Industry has proven equal to the task."

Pretty strong words from someone who supposedly has a good track record for reading markets and industries.

Mother Jones has a good recap of Eisman's perspective on the sector, and why he thinks it's ready for a tumble. He blames the Obama administration's push for gainful employment regulations, which would force the sector to demonstrate that graduates of their institutions make enough money to shoulder the higher debt burdens students there have on average (see the recent College Board report, Who Borrows Most? for more on this issue).  READ MORE...

Levels of education in the Canadian population have risen steadily since the 1970s. The share
of the working-age population with a post-secondary education rose, from 20.4% in 1970, to
39.8% in 2007. Over the same period, the share of individuals with a bachelor‘s degree climbed
from 4.1% to 14.1%, and the share of individuals with a master‘s degree or above increased from 1.1% to 6.1%.

Source: Estimates of Human Capital in Canada, Stats Canada

THE NEWS

Principal urges tighter accountability at reserve schools
By Elise Stolte, Edmonton Journal
The soon-to-be former principal of the Paul Band school wants federal officials to demand more accountability for the funding they give First Nations schools. Mike Hanlon was in charge of a school where the 38 high school students in the outreach program read at an average Grade 2 level last fall, and teachers estimate only 65 per cent of the children attended on a typical day. Giving money without accountability just reinforces the status quo. "How about instead of a handout, how about a hand up?" he said. Make sure the accounts are accurate and demand schools are run properly.

Halton, York schools nab top scores in Grade 10 literacy test
By Kristin Rushowy, Toronto Star
Halton and York region schools remain at the top of the class on provincial Grade 10 literacy tests, with pass rates exceeding the Ontario average as well as other Greater Toronto boards. The Halton Catholic District School Board saw 92 per cent of students pass the test; the Halton public and York Catholic boards were next, with 90 per cent. Some 89 per cent of teens in the York Region District School Board made the grade. Across Ontario, the average was 84 per cent.

Lighting the way for aboriginal girls
By Derek Sankey, The Calgary Herald
First Nations women are greatly under-represented in science and engineering, but role models such as Becky Cook, who graduated with a bachelor's degree in science, specializing in geology and geophysics, and has become one of a very few aboriginal women to work as a geophysicist; can help inspire a new generation of young women to see opportunities in the field. After graduating, Cook moved to Calgary to work for Nexen Inc. as a geophysicist and now mentors high school girls to encourage them to consider careers in science and engineering.

Local college and university enrolment climbing
By Luisa D’Amato, The Waterloo Region Record
If you thought this area already had more than its share of college and university students, just wait until September. There will be a five- to seven-per-cent increase in the numbers of first-year students at University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier, and Conestoga College, officials predict. And their main focuses are science, engineering and health sciences. At Wilfrid Laurier University, the number of students who confirmed for first year is up six per cent. That’s an additional 257 students over last year’s incoming frosh. Almost all of the increased number will be coming to the already-packed Waterloo campus, and many are heading for the faculty of science, which expects 21 per cent growth over last year’s first-year crop, said associate registrar Lois Wood.

Report offers roadmap to success for postsecondary students with autism
By Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario News Release
A new report released today estimates that 5,800 students identified with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are currently in Ontario’s publicly funded secondary schools. School staff expect that approximately 1,100 of these students will seek to enter college or university between 2009 and 2011. The report, “Identifying Trends and Supports for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder Transitioning into Postsecondary” makes a number of suggestions for postsecondary institutions to support students with ASD based on successful practices at the secondary school level.

Teaching the humanities: Vital to society?
By John Allemang, Globe and Mail
University students worried about getting a job see the study of the humanities as a waste of precious time. Research funding (of the new $200-million Canada Excellence Research Chairs, for example) overwhelmingly favour the useful sciences, politicians see technical skills as the key to global economic success and cultural commentators bash the liberal arts as a naval-gazing luxury. Times are hard for humanists. But when economic growth becomes the focus of education, both democracy and human decency are in jeopardy. In her new book, Not For Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities (Princeton), acclaimed University of Chicago philosopher and legal scholar Martha Nussbaum argues that our culture of market-driven schooling is headed for a fall.

Enrolment grows ahead of 2025 target
By Bernard Lane, The Australian
Natural and physical sciences are among the fields to enjoy strong growth in demand as a top education official lends support to the view that the government's 2025 participation target will be reached early. Enrolments were expected to be up 9.9 per cent this year, and some universities were recruiting above the new, more relaxed 10 per cent cap on numbers, according to Colin Walters of the federal Education Department. Universities Australia chief Glenn Withers said some institutions appeared to be going for big growth early to position themselves for the coming years of better funding indexation.

Mexico’s Monterrey Tech pushes E-learning, as some worry it won’t solve the region’s burgeoning need
By Marion Lloyd, The Chronicle of Higher Education
A decade ago, only one in 50 Mexicans had access to the Internet. Today that figure is one in four, a staggering cultural transformation that is fueling a boom in online degree programs in the country. Few universities can rival the private Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education when it comes to e-learning. Over the past two decades, the university, which has 33 campuses scattered across Mexico, has seized on the Internet revolution to boost enrollment and slash costs.

The ‘community college’ internationally
By Elizabeth Redden, InsideHigherEd
Jorge Perez, a professor of mathematics, first encountered a community college when he came to the United States from Chile in 1980. Perez, who teaches at LaGuardia Community College, of the City University of New York, became such a believer of the mission of community colleges that he brokered a connection between a former student of his, who is now a dean at a Chilean university, and LaGuardia’s leadership, leading to the founding of the new Community College de Santiago this spring.

Engaging Faculty and Staff: An Imperative for Fostering Retention, Advising, and Smart Borrowing (February 2008)

Watson Scott Swail with Rebecca Mullen, Hyniea Gardner, and Jeremy Reed