The Evolution of the For-Profit College Industry: New Challenges for Oversight

Abstract

In recent years, enrollment at for-profit colleges has fallen steeply due to sustained economic growth, the poor reputation of the industry as a result of increasing awareness of documented abuses, and stronger accountability policies that were put in place during the Obama Administration. This report focuses on important changes to the sector, which include the growth of online education, the efforts of for-profit colleges to convert to non-profit status, and the increased use of online program managers (OPMs) by public and non-profit colleges to operate their online programs.