Career Schools Redefine Education:

What is the New Definition?

 

            I was not always the best student in high school.  When my peers spoke of future plans such as colleges and career goals, SAT's and valedictorian, I sat on the sidelines with a totally different set of priorities.  To be frank, I really didn't look past day to day life.  Like many young adults my head seemed to be somewhere in the sky.  I was completely preoccupied with other things.

            Lewis and Clark state college was my next venture straight from high school.  It was a small college in Lewiston Idaho and proved to be even more ineffective at my quest for intellectual enlightenment. The extent of my education there was more of learning the art of party 101. It really didn't go beyond that.  I was not the kind of kid that grew up in a home with a cheerleading squad rooting them on; if you know what I mean. 

            It was obvious that my pursuit for educational bliss was not where my life was headed at this time. Some may say it was the powers that be, and others may say it was simply making bad choices. My lack of education and direction lead me to an eye opening experience.  I decided to move to Nashville Tennessee with my high school sweet heart.  He had even less motivation and drive for life than me, which made for an interesting couple of years.  When we first arrived in Tennessee; I knew only one thing for sure, that was to find work.  Being that I was young with no experience, it left me with only one choice.  This was my first experience with temporary services.

            My first job was working at a nursery.  When I read the description of duties and requirements; I was very excited.  I thought to myself, "So what if it only pays minimum wage, I’ll be around pretty flowers all day.  It will be like being paid to garden!"  On Monday morning I arrived at 6:30 am.  This is when the fun began.  Every morning the crew of six would stand under large circular barrels full of soil.  We would fill our wheel barrows and roll them out to the field, where we would scoop soil into individual planters and place them one by one on the ground in straight rows. Then we would install the drippers; the mum’s water source. We would do this all day long in 104 degree Tennessee humidity.  To make matters worse, it was a must to cover all parts of our bodies, including the face.  The wind would blow so hard that the dirt would get into our eyes, ears, mouth and nose.  My ears would blister and swell.  The whites of my eyes were the only visible parts on my body at the end of the day and my bones would ache so badly.

 When the season ended I continued seeking employment through temporary agencies.  Most of the work was in warehouses where workdays were no less than 12 and sometimes 16 hours.  We would normally work six days a week, but on rare occasions seven.  This depended on whether or not we had made our quota.  The workweek was very monotonous and I was wearing down fast.  I was tired of being treated like a body and being disrespected at every job site. 

            I remember going home so tired and dirty, flipping on the television and flopping on the couch. Sometimes I would get home in the early afternoon when daytime television is at its best.  There was commercial after commercial for trade schools offering career choices in every field imaginable.  There were French speaking chefs in blinding white jackets and cute little hats that were making cakes fit for royalty.  There were commercials for health care assistants with large permanent smiles checking an elderly person's blood pressure or consoling a young child in the hospital waiting room.  I also saw advertisements for dental assistants, bookkeeping, private investigation, legal assistants, insurance coding specialists, and much more.  Anyone with a television, radio, computer, or mailbox has probably seen these advertisements at one time or another.  They can be very enticing to a person like me who had no direction and was burnt out.  Even though these schools seemed so enticing it was almost as if they were too good to be true, but it may also have been my skeptical nature.

            These "for-profits" have acquired very little attention within the American Public. After making a conscious decision to give college another whirl; I must wonder about those people who chose another route. In this paper I will examine the role of proprietary schools in society, both historically and present day.  I will look at the level of training offered at these schools, and examine the success rate of "for-profits", including graduation requirements, costs of attending and the societal factors that influence an individual decision to attend.  I will also look at the media's role in motivating and encouraging an individual to attend.  And, finally look into who funds these institutions and at what cost.

 History Behind Proprietary Schools in the United States

            Historical background is important for understanding the present day "for-profit" institution.  Many of the techniques dating back as far as the Colonial era are still being used to market potential trades unique to our current economy.  According to Craig A Honick, author of “The Story Behind Proprietary Schools in the United States”, proprietary schools are as old as grammar schools and colleges. “In 1936, a year after the puritans of Massachusetts founded Boston public Latin school the same year as Harvard.”  A man by the name of James Morton was reported teaching students a technique of teaching business accounting called "casting accounts".  During the colonial era many similar proprietary schools existed, teaching everything from business to surveying and navigation skills.  Most of these schools were run by private businessmen who were looking to profit from teaching their individual skills.  The idea of competition within the industry really took hold when others saw the profit to be made by teaching their specific trade.  The competitions lead to a surge in advertisements promoting private for profit educators and their skills to potential students.  "These advertisements show that the type of competition proprietary schools face today was a real part of their environment in the colonies."  If there was a trade to learn there was definitely someone to teach it.  Even the women got involved like teaching students to sew or bake (28-29).

            Prior to the civil war around 1820-1830 many private business schools emerged.  “These were the inspiration for University affiliated business schools present today.”  The schools were usually mobile following the population growth into the West.  Many techniques like penmanship, bookkeeping, arithmetic and law proved profitable (30).

Later into the 19th century school owners began to see the benefits of combining apprenticeship techniques with lectures and other exercises.  These acts lead to the development of "Bryan Stratton" colleges creating the nations first corporate or chain school.  These franchises grew and grew as high profile advertising successfully sold career training (31). 

            After the civil war proprietary schools continued to grow. The expansion of industry “fueled” big business. Proprietary schools responded to this growth (31). The invention of the Remington model 1 typewriter had a huge impact on changing the dynamics of the workforce although it required "new and extensive" training.  The typewriter was not the only form of "technology" introduced during the late 19th Century.  The calculator and stenographic machine were also introduced and required training (32). 

            The excess of growth lead to large chains much like present-day “corporate" America. It was at this time that many scandals and loose regulations began facing scrutiny.  The solicitation of students, curriculum and teaching techniques began to portray these schools as ineffective and fraudulent.  This ideology followed the schools into the 20th. Century where Attacks from labor unions, industry and businessmen, began to take hold (34-36). 

Who are the students?

            Historically proprietary schools have found their market within the elite classes where education was most prominent. Today the objective is just the reverse.  The “for-profit” sector now targets minorities and people of lower income.  Many Americans are very aware of the unequal distribution of classes within this country and also around the world.  I believe it is fair to say that by seducing low income individuals and minorities into attending proprietary schools it is in turn perpetuating this problem although, some disagree.  Thomas G. Mortenson, a senior scholar at the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education argues that many of the poor students tend to be minorities and the economic incentive is the main motivating factor for going to college, not intellectual gain (1).

 According to Elizabeth F. Farrell author of “For Profit Colleges See Rising Minority Enrollments” Minorities are among the most underprivileged individuals within the United States.  Proprietary schools intentionally run ads in Spanish in order to attract and coerce parents of potential students to attend their institutions. Building centers around major metropolitan centers where many minorities live is very common for these schools to obtain their target audience, as well as running ads aimed at African Americans on television stations like Black Entertainment (1-6).  Farrell also says “For families, economic concerns often take precedence over intellectual development” (2) Although Evelyn Jamiliah points out community colleges and career schools usually receive students from the same “underrepresented” and “nontraditional” student pool (2).

Like it or not an education arms an individual with access to power.  “Power has everything to do with attitude and access: an attitude of empowerment, even entitlement, and access to tools, people, and ideas that make living-at any income level-easier, and its crisis easier to bear” (Spayde 66).  Using poor Americans as a means to obtain larger economic success is wrong.  We should undoubtedly recognize every individual as a commodity for change, instead of categorizing people into those with thoughts and ideas and those with a marketable skill. Dr. Lee Fritschler, the new assistant secretary of postsecondary education believes otherwise, He says that one of the great strengths of American education is the diversity in the many different types of institutions.  He also says that Proprietary schools play a very important role in the functioning of the educational process (1-2).  But still, we must question the integrity of our social structure.  If learning the humanities is only a privilege offered to the elite, than it should be fair to say that we are stripping a major part of this entire country from the opportunity to obtain power. We are defining our culture into one that only accepts people with money or of a certain color as leaders.  Jon Spayde acknowledges this thought in his quote “Talking about education is usually the closest we come to talking about class; no wonder education like class, is about power” (66).

 According to an analysis of data from the National Center for Education Statistics conducted by Black issues in higher education, which lists the top 100 institutions in number of degrees rewarded to minority students.  “Individual campuses of Strayer and the University of Phoenix are ranked fourth and six, respectively for granting bachelors degrees in business to African Americans”(Farrell1).  Strayer and Devry are the top two institutions that reward minorities with bachelor’s degrees in computer and information science.  All three of these institutions also rank high in producing Hispanic graduates in the same as well as other field's (1).  Many students who attend proprietary colleges do not seem to be bothered by this.  In fact some actually find it to be beneficial.  Mr. Jones a student at Devry said “When you are around people like yourself, who have lived through the same struggles as a minority, it definitely helps.” He also said it made things easier, he felt more comfortable asking student in class for help (qtd. In Farrell). By enticing minorities into specific trades we really are not doing anything to correct the unfortunate unequal distribution.  The United States as well as the world might be a very different place if we allowed women and minorities to express and integrate their ideologies.

 There are many reasons why minorities choose training rather than attending traditional community or four-year colleges. Cultural factors play a major role.  For instance, many Hispanic students have non-English speaking parents.  Many of the parents do not understand much about the institution that their children are going to attend; it can be confusing (Farrell 4). For profit institutions are just way better at reaching out to students who lack “financial savvy” (4).  Also, lower income individuals tend to believe that training will be a lot less expensive than the traditional schooling.  In 2003 the Sallie Mae foundation did a study and concluded that 66% of African –American parents and 62% of Hispanic parents did not feel that they not had enough information on how to pay for college.   To tackle this problem, institutions such as Devry, and ITT technical institute keep their financial aide offices open at night and on weekend's as well as create additional positions for financial aide counselors catering to working individuals who may need help filling out paperwork (3).  According to the chairman and chief executive officer of ITT technical institute Rene R. Champagne, “the primary responsibility of our financial aide people is to show the average prospective student that they can afford it if they are willing to take out loans” (qtd. In Farrell 3). 

Costs and Funding

Believe it or not much of the proprietary schools success began with the introduction of the GI Bill. The servicemen’s readjustments ACT (G.I Bill) was passed in 1944 and offered support for people in the service who wished to receive educational assistance.  This was significant for proprietary institutions because it meant that servicemen could now be reimbursed for going to college. This included training opportunities.  Proprietary schools began seeing much more money as they were now partially federally subsidized.  Many schools began setting rates to the maximum that the government would pay without regard to actual costs (Honick 36).  The enactment of the GI bill was significant in that it began categorizing proprietary schools with traditional two-year institutions.

 In 1972, amendments to the Higher Education Act lead to a victory for career schools.  It allowed students to gain student loans in order to pay for their programs (Jamilah 2).  All of this money stems from simple wording.  It categorizes career schools as “Higher Education Institutes” (1)

 We must wonder if the students attending these schools are getting their moneys worth. Advocates for non profit schooling feel threatened at the amount of financial aid that their schools are loosing every year by for-profits (Jamilah 5). According to "Career School under Scrutiny" an article by Brent Huntsberger of the Oregonian, trade schools rely almost entirely on federal and state loans.  In 2000, BCTI a nationally known technical school netted 1.1 million dollars in profit from a 21.5 million in revenue at its Washington State campus alone.  86% of the schools cash revenue from the Washington school came from Pell grants and student loans tailored for the low-income (D9).Yet, the ability that these schools have to receive federal money has many criticizing the lack of standard regulation and higher loan default among for-profit students (Jamiliah 3).

 The question then leads to the effectiveness of these schools and deciding whether or not the high cost of trade schools is worth the money spent.  School tuition at for-profit institutions is usually "2-3 times higher than publicly subsidized community colleges" ("Lost in Transition"). Although many students are willing to pay the higher price for “advantages” other than the acceleration. Smaller class sizes and the ability to learn “real world” applications instead of information from some “academic textbook” are also enticing to career college students (Jamiliah 3).  With this information one must assume that the high cost of these schools is overlooked by the speed in which an individual can graduate. Many trade school graduates never receive the opportunity to experience the long-term benefits of a humanities oriented education where life skills are stressed.  As, Jon Spayde points out in his article "Learning in the Key of Life" "viewing education differently could be very beneficial during a time when technical knowledge has a shelf life of 6 months tops" (64).

This is my concern. The education that students receive in community college can never be taken away from them.  In the words of my grandmother, it is a life time investment.  Many proprietary schools offer short-term training in current technology, or up to date marketable trades, but as times change the value of their dollar spent becomes less and less useful.  Community colleges play an important role in society.  They arm the student with the education and recognition to transfer to a four-year institution where a student has the opportunity to obtain a bachelors degree. The United States Secretary of Education must recognize accredited institutions.  This is to ensure that they are recognized as credible higher education institutions; although proprietary schools are often accredited it does not necessarily mean that the credits that a student accumulates there can be transferred to a four-year institution (Prager 62).  This seems to lead to the higher question of success.  If a school is accredited it is basically saying that the education a student is receiving is reliable and of quality.  If you cannot transfer the credits is it undermining the education?  An even larger issue arises about the federal funds that support these schools.  Why should a school receive federal money if the students are limited to how far they can go?  It is a fact that there is a direct correlation between ones education and salary.  It seems unfair to charge such outrageous prices to the tune of $800.00-1500 per course more than the conventional school (Meisler) without allowing the student to make enough money upon graduation to put back into society what they’ve earned.

Regulations

            In order for career colleges to receive funding from the government they must meet minimum necessary guidelines.  These regulations include graduation requirements and job placement success upon graduating.  These two minimum criteria have lead to an array of scrutiny amongst proprietary skeptics. The signs of for-profit corruption can be found in our own back yard here in the northwest. BCTI, a nationally known technical school is recently undergoing investigation for allegations of misleading and questionable business practices within the institution.  The Washington-based career school altered test scores used for enrollment standards such as reading and writing comprehension, and even "pressured teachers to pass students with mental disabilities. ("Career Schools"D8). Harold Bruce Tate a disabled man with a bachelors and a Masters degree from Lewis and Clark College attended BCTI after an accident.   His social worker Gilberto Pena of the Washington county disability, aging and Veterans services said, "He suffered from a traumatic brain injury that limits his ability to learn tasks." BCTI passed the 65 year old man through "several courses even though he couldn’t remember how to open Microsoft word" (qtd.in "Career Schools" D8). The school is also accused of forging job placement and graduation numbers in order to receive the federal money.

 BCTI is not the only nationally known school who has faced scrutiny and legal action for poor business practices.  The University of Phoenix was fined 9.8 million dollars in violation of the Higher Education Act. For admitting unqualified students and using high-pressured sales tactics in order to admit students.  ITT technical institute also another well-known proprietary school made the news as well.  The U.S department of Justice and the U.S securities Exchange Commission is investigating ITT Technical for allegedly falsifying student attendance, grades and job placement records.  "Federal agents searched ITT's Indianapolis headquarters and 10 of 77 ITT technical institute campuses nationwide, including one in Portland."  The California Attorney General is also investigating allegations at home.  Other schools facing scrutiny for the same poor business practices are Career Education Corp and Corinthian Colleges Inc. for lying to receive federal funds.  It should be noted that Corinthian College Inc. owns Western Business College ("Career Schools"D8). 

Advertising/Big Business

            Proprietary schools are famous for their effective marketing techniques.  Many techniques have caused an uproar amongst critics that find them to be dishonest or to aggressive but it would be hard to find someone that would dispute the effectiveness of these tactics. The fact is that they work. Career colleges know exactly who their market is.  Often the market is high school graduates, single parents, welfare recipients and lay of workers (Dessoff). 

 Through aggressive marketing techniques Kaplan “a profitable division of the Washington Post” and is known for their graduate prep exams also operates a great deal of colleges.  In 1998 it opened Concord Law School, Concord is completely online based and despite the American Bar Association’s “refusal” to accredit online institutions, Concord has the largest law school enrollment in the country (Kirp 2).  This kind of success does not occur by sitting silent and waiting for students to come forward.    Like any business proprietary schools must find creative ways to pull in customers unlike, community colleges where advertising is less important.  A lot of times the advertising is done in the form of commercial advertisements, emails or “snail” mail although some businesses have taken a more questionable approach. Many for-profits must fulfill certain quotas such as job placement quotas and the enrollment of students.  According to Katherine Marcoux a former career service specialist “managers pressured placement staff to count students who got jobs running cash registers as computer job placements” (qtd. In “Career Schools” D8).  If instructors or staffs do not fulfill the quotas often times they can be at risk for replacement. This can lead to a very dramatic turn over rate.  Jim Muller a former director of instruction said he dismissed six instructors over the course of six months for not meeting their goals.  If instructors could not keep students in class long enough to receive their financial aid checks they would run the risk of being fired.  BCTI a local career school has recently had their solicitation techniques called into question. One student, Alan Bonney said “they catch you in a moment of weakness.” recruiters targeted them outside of unemployment agencies, homeless shelters and also disability services.  Cassandra Wonder a former career consultant at BCTI adds that anyone who stepped feet inside their doors, the employees were expected to enroll. “People who couldn’t read. People who were homeless. We enroll them cause if you didn’t enroll them, you’d get in trouble.”  Employees of BCTI were also rewarded with trips out of state if they were a top selling career consultant even though federal law prohibits schools from paying or rewarding salespeople

(“Career Schools” D8).

In Conclusion

            Proprietary schools have been a part of the American culture for many years although today's for-profits are playing a more distinct role, as education is no longer only accessible to the Elite.  The American dream is not as it used to be.  We no longer dream of apple pie and baseball.  Instead the world is changing into a corporate owed industry where small businesses are being pushed farther and farther aside.  Our world is changing into a fast paced and technology driven society, one where simple jobs are being phased out by current advances.  Proprietary schools play an important role in making this change happen gracefully.  Career colleges offer economic incentive to underprivileged individuals although traditional higher education systems “produce a better-informed citizenry that participates in civil and political discourse, essential to a smoothly functioning democracy.  Our society benefits, tangibly and intangibly, from a better educated populace (“Statement of AACC”). I do not believe that trade schools can tackle the important social issues that are a result of studying the humanities. Colin Greer believes "By looking at historical change such as the end of slavery, child labor and women's suffrage it is clear people have forgotten what it really takes to accomplish these tasks" (qtd in Spayde). I can't help but to think that many of these trade schools are changing the definition of education. 

The Webster's New World Dictionary defines education as the process of training and developing the knowledge, skill, mind, character etc, especially by formal schooling, teaching, or training (461).  There are two words in the dictionary definition of education that seem to be missing from the proprietary school curriculum. They are mind and character.  There is nothing wrong with arming a student with the knowledge to tackle a specific trade.  In fact this is exactly what community colleges do when a student declares a major or receives a certificate upon graduation.  Community College students though are expected to complete prerequisites.  These prerequisites are not only in basic math and writing competencies but many require the humanities.  It is awfully hard to build the mind to think outside of traditional techniques or outside the box when the training is so limited.  Also, with the cost 2-3 times as high it should be in the curriculum in order for the student to get their moneys worth.

 Furthermore, the dictionary defines education as character.  Humanities arm a student with the knowledge to make informed decisions.  It allows for an individual to reinforce personal values and morals this is a large part of educational advantages.  If educational institutions operate like corporate machines then the values that students learn can often be quite jaded. I must leave you with this quote by  Spayde about the meaning of an education.  "Talking about education inevitably leads to the question of what a culture considers most important (67).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

----.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++…………………………………………………………………………………………33++++++.3------------

  Today the demographic that these schools seek is much different.