Skip to content
ADVERTISEMENT
Sign In
  • Sections
    • News
    • Advice
    • The Review
  • Topics
    • Data
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Finance & Operations
    • International
    • Leadership & Governance
    • Teaching & Learning
    • Scholarship & Research
    • Student Success
    • Technology
    • Transitions
    • The Workplace
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Special Issues
    • Podcast: College Matters from The Chronicle
  • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle On-The-Road
    • Professional Development
  • Ask Chron
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Professional Development
    • Career Resources
    • Virtual Career Fair
  • More
  • Sections
    • News
    • Advice
    • The Review
  • Topics
    • Data
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Finance & Operations
    • International
    • Leadership & Governance
    • Teaching & Learning
    • Scholarship & Research
    • Student Success
    • Technology
    • Transitions
    • The Workplace
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Special Issues
    • Podcast: College Matters from The Chronicle
  • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle On-The-Road
    • Professional Development
  • Ask Chron
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Professional Development
    • Career Resources
    • Virtual Career Fair
    Upcoming Events:
    College Advising
    Serving Higher Ed
    Chronicle Festival 2025
Sign In
Research

Conference Brings Together For-Profit Colleges and Scholars Who Study Them

By Goldie Blumenstyk September 23, 2012
Durham, N.C.

The small but growing collection of academics who study how race, class, and gender issues play out in the recruiting and education of students across the for-profit-college sector may one day mark an unusual conclave of researchers that concluded here on Saturday as a watershed.

To continue reading for FREE, please sign in.

Sign In

Or subscribe now to read with unlimited access for as low as $10/month.

Don’t have an account? Sign up now.

A free account provides you access to a limited number of free articles each month, plus newsletters, job postings, salary data, and exclusive store discounts.

Sign Up

The small but growing collection of academics who study how race, class, and gender issues play out in the recruiting and education of students across the for-profit-college sector may one day mark an unusual conclave of researchers that concluded here on Saturday as a watershed.

The event, “Access, Competition & For-Profit Higher Education,” brought together more than a dozen professors and graduate students whose work examines such topics as whether some colleges’ advertising messages are racially discriminatory and data showing that students are more likely to complete a two-year degree at a for-profit institution than at a community college. (The researcher behind that finding, David J. Harding, an associate professor of sociology and public policy the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, also found that for-profits fared worse when looking at four-year degrees.)

But more to the point, said an organizer of the event, Tressie McMillan Cottom, a Ph.D. candidate in sociology at Emory University, was the “buy in” from participants, who included academics in fields like law, business, economics, and education, as well as top officials at four major college companies—American Public University, Corinthian Colleges Inc., Kaplan University, and DeVry Inc.

“So much research is relationship-based,” said Ms. Cottom, and the companies’ participation—and their subsequent offers to be forthcoming with data about students, faculty, and even some academic practices—could bring a different kind of attention to a sector that has until now been scrutinized largely by journalists, lawyers, policy makers, and politicians.

“We are sitting on a mountain of data,” said Kara VanDam, Kaplan’s vice provost. She said she was eager to have other academics look at the teaching model there so they’ll realize “our curriculum does not descend from on high from some weird place.”

William A. Darity, a professor of public policy, economics, and African-American Studies at Duke University, said the scholarly focus is long overdue, given the sector’s growth, its cost, and the high proportion of low-income and minority students who enroll at the colleges.

Enrollment at colleges in the sector nearly doubled from 2006 to 2011, said Kevin Kinser, an associate professor of educational administration and policy studies at the University at Albany, a campus of the State University of New York. He pointed to a graph showing years of steady growth, followed by a sharp incline to the right. “We have an education ‘hockey stick,’” he said, referring to a famous climate-change graph showing trends toward global warming.

He also highlighted data showing that for-profit colleges are absorbing more student aid relative to student success. Measuring federal dollars per “completion” of a program, Mr. Kinser found that while the rates increased for for-profit, nonprofit, and public institutions from 2001 to 2011, the rate of increase at for-profit colleges, 142 percent, was the greatest.

“Systemic attention from academics” has been inadequate, said Mr. Darity.

But that’s changing.

Already, said Ms. Cottom, “real research plans are shaping up” through organizations like the Duke University Research Network on Racial and Ethnic Inequality, one of the conference organizers. She said the network has at least 15 members interested in doing research involving for-profit higher education, though she noted their success depends on “how interested funders are and how interested journals are.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Corinthian’s spokesman, Kent Jenkins, said he knew of at least one Ph.D. student who was already studying students at one of the company’s California campuses and said the company was open to more.

Corrections (9/24/2012, 10:18 a.m.): The original version of this article neglected to mention one of the four major college companies at the conference: American Public University. It also misreported Kara VanDam’s title at Kaplan. She is vice provost, not assistant provost. The article has been updated to reflect these corrections.

We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
Share
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Email
Blumenstyk_Goldie.jpg
About the Author
Goldie Blumenstyk
The veteran reporter Goldie Blumenstyk writes a weekly newsletter, The Edge, about the people, ideas, and trends changing higher education. Find her on Twitter @GoldieStandard. She is also the author of the bestselling book American Higher Education in Crisis? What Everyone Needs to Know.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

More News

Protesters attend a demonstration in support of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, March 10, 2025, in New York.
First Amendment Rights
Noncitizen Professors Testify About Chilling Effect of Others’ Detentions
Photo-based illustration of a rock preciously suspended by a rope over three beakers.
Broken Promise
U.S. Policy Made America’s Research Engine the Envy of the World. One President Could End That.
Wednesday, June 11, 2025 Tucson, Arizona—Doctor Andrew Capaldi poses for a portrait at his lab at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona on Wednesday, June 11, 2025. CREDIT: Ash Ponders for Chronicle
Capaldi Lab—
Research Expenses
What Does It Cost to Run a Lab?
Research illustration Microscope
Dreams Deferred
How Trump’s Cuts to Science Funding Are Derailing Young Scholars’ Careers

From The Review

University of Virginia President Jim Ryan keeps his emotions in check during a news conference, Monday, Nov. 14, 2022 in Charlottesville. Va. Authorities say three people have been killed and two others were wounded in a shooting at the University of Virginia and a student is in custody. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
The Review | Opinion
Jim Ryan’s Resignation Is a Warning
By Robert Zaretsky
Photo-based illustration depicting a close-up image of a mouth of a young woman with the letter A over the lips and grades in the background
The Review | Opinion
When Students Want You to Change Their Grades
By James K. Beggan
Photo-based illustration of a student and a professor, each occupying a red circle in a landscape of scribbles.
The Review | Opinion
Meet Students Where They Are? Maybe Not.
By Mark Horowitz

Upcoming Events

Chronfest25_Virtual-Events_Page_862x574.png
Chronicle Festival: Innovation Amid Uncertainty
07-16-Advising-InsideTrack - forum assets v1_Plain.png
The Evolving Work of College Advising
Lead With Insight
  • Explore Content
    • Latest News
    • Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Professional Development
    • Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Chronicle Intelligence
    • Jobs in Higher Education
    • Post a Job
  • Know The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • Vision, Mission, Values
    • DEI at The Chronicle
    • Write for Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • Our Reporting Process
    • Advertise With Us
    • Brand Studio
    • Accessibility Statement
  • Account and Access
    • Manage Your Account
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Group and Institutional Access
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
  • Get Support
    • Contact Us
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • User Agreement
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037
© 2025 The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education is academe’s most trusted resource for independent journalism, career development, and forward-looking intelligence. Our readers lead, teach, learn, and innovate with insights from The Chronicle.
Follow Us
  • twitter
  • instagram
  • youtube
  • facebook
  • linkedin