Troubles Grow for a University Built on Profits

Here’s an interesting article from the New York Times. It’s about the rise in for-profit private colleges and the problems students are having. This is another subject that I am quite passionate about. As lower-skill jobs are being eliminated and dislocated workers need retraining, we are seeing a rise in these for-profit colleges that cater to adult learners. I think some of the recruiting tactics are borderline predatory because they mislead low-income individuals into believing they will obtain their degree and high paying job. But the problem is that many of these “schools” are accredited to qualify students for financial aid and giving out degrees, but they are not accredited by a professional association. For example, my college is accredited by the U.S. Department of Education and/or some regional variation and the social work program is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. This means that my degree is social work meets the quality standards set out by the CSWE. It also means that my degree is valid and accepted by employers and other colleges nationwide (and worldwide). Now, let’s take the the University of Phoenix (the subject of the Times article). They are accredited by the U.S. Dept. of Education and/or some regional variation, but not with Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business which is the accrediting agency for business schools. So, when a student leaves U of Phoenix with a bachelor’s degree that person may have a difficult time getting a job in business because their degree is not valid with the AACSB. They may also have difficulty in getting any of those credits transfered to a traditional college. So, then they are left with thousands of dollars in students loans and no high paying job. It’s sad. It’s worse when I know someone is enrolled in such a program and there isn’t anything I can do to help them. It goes back to the old adage that if it’s too good to be true, then it probably is.

For the first time, poverty shifts to the U.S. suburbs.

This is an interesting article in Newsweek. I’ve always had an interest in suburban poverty. I predicted this trend a while ago. As a social worker, it is important to understand some of the differences between suburban poverty and urban poverty. I’m not saying one is better than the other, but families and individuals who are poor among the plenty have some interesting challenges. Poverty has always been an “urban” issue so there are far more social services available to the urban poor. There are food shelves, homeless shelters, soup kitchens, subsidized or low-come housing, and other visibly poor people. In the suburbs, there is usually a food shelf that will serve a large geographic area, but that is usually it. There is no place for the homeless. There are very little subsidized or affordable housing options. Transportation is also an issue. has a notoriously horrible public transportation system. If you don’t have a car in the suburbs you are basically stuck. Most social service agencies offer fuel vouchers for low-income clients, but you have to be able to get to the agency to get the voucher. Plus, you actually need to have a car. It will be interesting to see how the suburbs reacts and changes to accommodate low-income individuals and families.

The article describes some of the reasons for the rise in poverty in the suburbs, mainly citing the loss of manufacturing jobs. This creates another problem when it comes to job availability and training. There are very few low-tech jobs available in general, so people need to get back to school for retraining. However, the changes to the government assistance programs have actually created road blocks in the system. People were once allowed to get government assistance while returning to school to obtain new job skills. Currently, people are allowed to use some of their required “work hours” to obtain a 2 year degree, but at four year degree is no longer an option. As a wise professor once told me, “a college degree is your ticket into middle class,” so as a result of “welfare reform” we have created a policy that keeps people in poverty rather than trying to get them out. So, as a means to make amends Congress passed a minimum wage hike. I have to be a naysayer, but I’m not sure how much it will help. It’s still about $4 an hour short of a reasonable, livable wage. I think we need to start identifying the systemic issues which are keeping many in poverty.