For-Profit Student Heterogeneity

Chung, Anna (2008): For-Profit Student Heterogeneity.

Abstract

In this study, I use three data sets collected by the US Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES): National Postsecondary Student Aid Studies of 1996, 2000 and 2004 (NPSAS:96,NPSAS:2000, and NPSAS:04) to derive the characteristics of the students in the US for-profit postsecondary educational sector and to identify the trends in these characteristics. I generate a collection of complex survey means and ratios and perform a series of t-tests to produce two sets of comparisons. First, I compare the for-profit students to the students in 2-year (and less-than-2-year) and 4-year non-profit schools. Second, I compare the students in less-than-2-year, 2-year, and 4-year for-profit colleges. These two different comparisons lead to three main conclusions. First, for-profit students are systematically and significantly different from their counterparts in non-profit 2-year and 4-year schools. Second, for-profit students are a very heterogeneous body. Students at less-than-2-year for-profit schools are different from the students in 2-year for-profit schools, and there is even a starker difference between the students in for-profit 4-year schools and the rest of the for-profit students. Finally, the increasing student population in for-profit 4-year schools drives the contemporary trends in proprietary student characteristics.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: for-profit; education; vocational; college; training; workforce; private
• Subjects: I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I2 - Education and Research Institutions > I21 - Analysis of Education; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics > J18 - Public Policy; H - Public Economics > H4 - Publicly Provided Goods > H44 - Publicly Provided Goods: Mixed Markets

References

Apling, R. N. (1993). Proprietary schools and their students. The Journal of Higher Education,64(4), 379-416.

Bailey, T. (2006). Increasing competition and growth of the for-profits. In T. Bailey & V. SmithMorest (Eds.),Defending the Community College Equity Agenda (pp. 87-109).Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Bailey, T., Badway, N., & Gumport, P. J. (2001). For-Profit Higher Education and Community Colleges. Technical report, National Center for Postsecondary Improvement, Stanford University,Stanford, CA.

Belitsky, A. H. (1969). Private vocational schools and their students: limited objectives, unlimited opportunities. Cambridge, MA: Schenkman Pub. Co.

Cellini, S. R. (2005). Community colleges and proprietary schools: A comparison of sub-baccalaureate institutions.

Choy, S. (2002). Nontraditional Undergraduates. Technical Report NCES 2002-012, National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC.

Chung, A. (2008). Choice of for-profit college.

Cominole, M., Siegel, P., Dudley, K., Roe, D., & Gilligan, T. (2004). 2004 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:04) Full Scale Methodology Report. Technical Report NCES 2006-180, National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC.

Deil-Amen, R. & Rosenbaum, J. E. (2003). The social prerequisites of success: Can college structure reduce the need for social know-how? The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 586, 120-143.

Goan, S. K. & Cunnigham, A. F. (2007). Differential Characteristics of 2-Year Postsecondary Institutions. Technical Report NCES2007-164, National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC.

Grubb, W. N. (1993). The long-run effects of proprietary schools on wages and earnings: implications for federal policy. Educational Evaluation & Policy Analysis, 15, 17-33.

JBL Associates (2004). Report on Proprietary Schools for Lumina Foundation. Technical report,Washington, DC.

Kane, T. J. & Rouse, C. E. (1995). Labor-market returns to two- and four-year college. The American Economic Review, 85(3), 600-614.

Kinser, K. (2006). From main street to wall street: For-prot higher education. ASHE Higher Education Report, 31(5).

Kinser, K. (2007). Dimensions of corporate ownership in for-profit higher education. The Review of Higher Education, 30(3), 217-245.

Knapp, L., Kelly-Reid, J., Whitmore, R., Wu, S., Huh, S., Levine, B., Berzofsky, M., & Broyles,S. (2005). Enrollment in Postsecondary Institutions, Fall 2002 and Financial Statistics, Fiscal Year 2002. Technical Report NCES 2005-168, National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC.

Lee, J. B. & Merisotis, J. P. (1990). Proprietary schools : programs, policies, and prospects. ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report, (5).

Lyke, R. F., Gabe, T., & Aleman, S. R. (1991). Early labor market experiences of proprietary school students. Microform, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

Manski, C. F. & Wise, D. A. (1983). College choice in America. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Marcotte, D. E., Bailey, T., Borkoski, C., & Kienzl, G. S. (2005). The returns of a community college education: Evidence from the national education longitudinal survey. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 27(2), 157-175.

Phipps, R. A., Harrison, K. V., & Merisotis, J. P. (1999). Students at private, for-profit institutions. Technical Report NCES 2000-175, National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC.

Phipps, R. A., Shedd, J. M., & Merisotis, J. P. (2001). A Classification System for 2-Year Postsecondary Institutions. Technical Report NCES 2001-167, National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC.

Riccobono, J. A., Cominole, M. B., Siegel, P. H., Gabel, T. J., Link, M. W., & Berkner, L. K.(2002). National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, 1999-2000 (NPSAS:2000) Methodology Report. Technical Report NCES 2002-152, National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Depart- ment of Education, Washington, DC.

Riccobono, J. A., Whitmore, R. W., Gabel, T. J., Traccarella, M. A., Pratt, D. J., & Berkner, L. K.(1997). National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, 1995-96 (NPSAS:96) Methodology Report. Technical Report NCES 98-073, National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC.

St. John, E. P., Starkey, J. B., & Paulsen, M. B. (1995). The influence of prices and price subsidies on within-year persistence by students in proprietary schools. Educational Evaluation & Policy Analysis, 17, 149-65.

Wilms, W. W. (1975). Public and proprietary vocational training: a study of effectiveness. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.