Exclusive Invitation ForProfit EDU group members to attend The Capital Roundtable’s conference on Private Equity at a discount

December 7, 2011 By EDU Guy Leave a Comment

ForProfitEDU would like to extend an exclusive invitation to you to attend The Capital Roundtable’s conference on Private Equity Investing in For-Profit Education Companies, being held on Thursday, January 12 in New York City.

As a partner, we have the privilege to put your name on our VIP list, allowing you to register for a special rate of $995 — $400 off the standard registration price.

This day-long conference is being chaired by Chris Hoehn-Saric, Senior Managing Director at Sterling Partners, and features 20 experts.

For registration or inquiries, just call Anna Fagan at 212-832-7300 ext. 0, or email her at afagan@capitalroundtable.com. Please be sure to mention our name”ForProfitEDU.com”.

For more details, click link below:
http://capitalroundtable.com/masterclass/Capital-Roundtable-For-Profit-Education-Private-Equity-Conference-2012.html

I hope to see you on January 12 for what promises to be a great day.

Have a Wonderful Holiday!

P.S. Since we expect this conference to attract a strong attendance, please register as soon as possible to reserve your seat.

Filed Under: Education Industry Events, Uncategorized Tagged With: career colleges, career education, consumer demand for education, education conference, Education forums, education industry, Education investment conferences, educational marketing, for profit education, for-profit, forprofit colleges, non-profit vs. for profit, PE conference, quality of online degrees

Moneycollege: Where is the Billy Beane of Higher Education?

September 30, 2011 By EDU Guy Leave a Comment

Interesting article from University Ventures Fund:

If you’ve seen Moneyball, the new baseball film about the unlikely success of the Oakland A’s and their out-of-the-box-thinking General Manager Billy Beane, you may have already drawn parallels to the current state of higher education. If not, we’re pleased to do it for you!

Like baseball ten years ago, higher education is focused on what’s easy to measure. For baseball it may have been body parts, batting average and the number on the radar gun. For higher education, it’s the 3Rs: research, rankings and real estate. Each of these areas is easily quantified or judged: research citations or number of publications in Nature and Science; U.S. News ranking (or colleges choose from a plethora of new entrants to the ranking game, including the international ranking by Shanghai Jiao Tong University); and in terms of real estate, how much has been spent on a new building and how stately, innovative and generally impressive it appears.

Unfortunately, the 3Rs correlate about as closely to student learning and student outcomes as batting average or fastball velocity, which is to say, not at all. Buildings are the “ugly girlfriend” of higher education.

Universities that continue to focus on the 3Rs in the wake of the seismic shifts currently roiling higher education (state budget cuts, increased sticker shock, technology-based learning) are either not serious about improving student learning and student outcomes, or they’re like the baseball fan who has lost her car keys in the stadium parking lot at night: Where does she look for them? Not where she lost them, but under the light because that’s where she can see.

To read the entire article: http://universityventuresfund.com/publications.php?title=moneycollege-where-is-the-billy-beane-of-higher-education

Filed Under: Education Investing, Uncategorized Tagged With: consumer demand for education, cost of tuition, Department of Education, education industry, for profit education, forprofit colleges, high cost of education, managing default rates at schools, non-profit vs. for profit, quality of online education, traditional college focus on whats not important

Is For Profit Education Dead?

September 19, 2011 By EDU Guy 1 Comment

New article by Michael Clifford on significant Ventures

Some would say that the for-profit postsecondary sector is on its last legs… DOA. Capitalism.” He calls this framework for success his Four Gospels of Higher Education:

Fifteen publicly traded education companies have seen their stocks decline by 33% on average since December 2009 versus a 5% increase for the S&P 500. Media accounts abound of allegations regarding improper practices at publicly traded companies, including marketing misrepresentation and fraudulent reporting of placement rates. Twenty state attorneys general are investigating for-profit institutions. No other sector has been as demonized as the for-profit sector has among state and federal politicians over the past several years.

to read the article in its entirety: http://significantfederation.com/eblast/2011.09.14/landing/

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: career colleges, career education, Department of Education, DOE, education industry, for profit education, for-profit, managing default rates at schools, non-profit vs. for profit, quality of online education

Debt to Degree a new report correlating debt & degree completion

August 4, 2011 By EDU Guy 2 Comments

Education Sector has created such a measure, the “borrowing to credential ratio.”For each college, we have taken newly available U.S. Department of Education data showing the total amount of money borrowed by undergraduates and divided that sum by the total number of degrees awarded.

The results are revealing:

• Nationwide, the overall borrowing to credential ratio has risen sharply in recent years.

• Certain segments of the higher education industry—in particular, for-profitcolleges—are racking up far more student debt per degree than others.

• State policies matter a great deal, with seemingly similar public university systems achieving widely varying results for students.

• Among elite colleges and universities, some are making good on their pledgeto help low- and middle-income students graduate without major financialburdens while others are riding a wave of student debt to fame and fortune.

Keep in mind that this formula does not take into account the enrollment growth and thus lack of time for those new students to graduate, thus in many of the for profits case their number are artificially high as if they added 5000-35000 new students their numbers are significantly elevated due to their newness and do not reflect actuals. This is a decent indicator for those schools with consistent flat enrollments

managing-student loan-debt

but not for those with rapidly changing enrollments. Thus, those schools with declining enrollments may show better that actual results while those with enrollment growth will show higher inaccurate debt amounts.

click here to viewreport: http://www.educationsector.org/sites/default/files/publications/Debt%20to%20Degree%20CYCT_RELEASE.pdf

Filed Under: Education Investing, For Profit Education Industry, Uncategorized Tagged With: career colleges, career education, college worth, consumer demand for education, Department of Education, education debt limits, education industry, for profit education, forprofit colleges, Gainful employment, managing default rates at schools, non-profit vs. for profit, student loan burdens

Case study “all out WAR” in Media Coverage of For-Profit Higher Education

July 29, 2011 By EDU Guy 1 Comment

You should check out the new study by Sage that goes into detail about the all out war in media coverage against the for profit education industry. Utilizing various methods of analysis the study shows that clearly there was a tipping point in the negative media coverage relating to the for-profit education sector starting in May 2010. Some again wonder who was behind this media push (short sellers or democrats seeking headline media attention), others simply shake their heads at the jadedness of many of the media outlets, and how news once known as unbiased coverage is now political rhetoric. Which ever way you fall on this it’s clear that the media is hush hush about all of the positives while they stand on their soap box to scream about anything negative regardless of the accuracy. It’s also clear how politics of the democratic party and self interest driven media sound bites clearly have played a role. Just another reason the average American is being further disenfranchised with the political system and it’s win at all costs mentality, rather than working to improve the lives of Americans, they all too much focus on what ever helps them gain headlines, soundbites and re-election.

Linke to the study: http://sgo.sagepub.com/content/early/2011/07/08/2158244011414732.full.pdf+html

Filed Under: For Profit Education Industry, Uncategorized Tagged With: career education, Department of Education, DOE, education industry, for profit education, for profit education being negatively featured by media, media ambusing the for profit education sector, non-profit vs. for profit, war against for profit education companies

APSCU file a lawsuit against the United States Department of Education regarding its gainful employment regulations

July 20, 2011 By EDU Guy 1 Comment

We like & support the actions & efforts of APSCU

Dear APSCU Members:

Today your Board of Directors has authorized the Association to file a lawsuit against the United States Department of Education regarding its gainful employment regulations. Although this lawsuit is fairly complex, the basic contention is that the Department of Education has over-reached its authority on the gainful employment rules, which was not authorized by the Congress of the United States. This lawsuit represents a significant investment of time and money by the Association in order to protect our students and institutions of our membership, but we think that there are critical issues involved which, if left unaddressed, will prove extremely harmful in both the near and long term. We will keep you informed of the progress of this action.

In addition, last Friday the Association appealed the ruling of the district court judge on our prior lawsuit that sought remedies to the recently promulgated state authorization, misrepresentation and incentive compensation regulations. We won a significant victory with the judge’s overturning of the requirements of online institutions to obtain recognition and licensure in all 50 states. However, the Board, after careful consideration, believes that an appeal of the judge’s ruling against us in these other areas is important to the members of our Association.

These two legal actions, coupled with our highly active legislative agenda, demonstrate the commitment of the Board to protect our students and institutions from the unfair attacks of self-proclaimed consumer advocate groups, short sellers, trial lawyers, the Department of Education and certain senators. It is important to recognize that this is a long-term battle, a situation in which we need “all hands on deck,” and we need your continued participation and involvement to be successful.

Last week the staff sent out an assessment notice that had been approved by the entire membership at our Annual Business Meeting held in Dallas in June. We are aware of the burden that these additional legal expenditures will place on our institutions. However, we feel absolutely committed in the rightness of our struggle against our critics and detractors and the important difference staying the course will mean to our students.

We are making progress, we are getting the word out, we are effectively challenging each and every negative press story, and we will continue to protect our students’ rights to access the higher education institution of their choice.

Respectfully yours,

Arthur Keiser, Ph.D.
Chairman, APSCU Board of Directors

Filed Under: For Profit Education Industry, Uncategorized Tagged With: apscu sues doe, APSCU suite against department of education, Department of Education, DOE, education industry, for profit education, gainful employment lawsuit, managing default rates at schools, non-profit vs. for profit

Private Equity Investing in Education Companies Conference

June 17, 2011 By EDU Guy 2 Comments

ForProfitEDU would like to extend an exclusive invitation to you to attend The Capital Roundtable’s conference on Private Equity Investing in Education Companies, being held on Thursday, July 21 in New York City.

As a partner, we have the privilege to put your name on our VIP list, allowing you to register for a special rate of $995 — $400 off the standard registration price.

This day-long conference is being chaired by Daniel Black, Managing Partner at Wicks Group of Companies, and features 20 experts.

For registration or inquiries, just call Shaina Mardinly at 212-832-7333 ext. 0, or email her at smardinly@capitalroundtable.com. Please be sure to mention our name.

For more details, click here:

http://www.capitalroundtablemail.com/masterclass/Capital-Roundtable-Private-Equity-Education-Conference-2011.html?&tag=forprofitedu
I hope to see you on July 21 for what promises to be a great day.

P.S. Since we expect this conference to attract a strong attendance, please register as soon as possible to reserve your seat.

Filed Under: Education Industry Events, Uncategorized Tagged With: career colleges, career education, consumer demand for education, demand for colleges, Department of Education, DOE, education industry, education investing, Gainful employment, government regulation for colleges, investing in education companies, non-profit vs. for profit, quality of online education

Gainful Employment rules out!

June 3, 2011 By EDU Guy 2 Comments

Yesterday the Obama Administration released final regulations requiring career college programs to better prepare students for “gainful employment” or risk losing access to Federal student aid. Or at least thats how they put it… Bottom line is that they eased a few caveats of the previous reg’s providing colleges with extended time for implementation, some flexibility on income data sources, interest only or income based payments, and minor changes to debt to income metric.

While this is at least a bit more manageable than the previous reg’s most believe it’s still harmful to many constituents in the lower income and minority segments. Hopefully this will be a sign and more thought will go into future revisions.

link to the rules on ed.gov: http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/gainful-employment-regulations

Filed Under: For Profit Education Industry, Uncategorized Tagged With: career colleges, career education, consumer demand for education, education industry, for profit education, forprofit colleges, Gainful employment, new gainful employment rules, non-profit vs. for profit, quality of online education

Debate Over Pay for Overseas Recruiters

June 1, 2011 By EDU Guy 1 Comment

A dirty secret used heavily by traditional colleges and unknown to many is now coming under pressure.

Interesting article from the Chronicle on the debate over paying recruiter fees for students. Overseas recruiting practices coming into scrutiny.

The long-simmering debate over the ethics of paying overseas student recruiters is threatening to boil over.

American colleges could be forced to choose between contracting with international-recruitment agents, who supporters say are a critical conduit for students in an increasingly crowded global education market, and maintaining their standing in the primary U.S. membership organization for admissions officials. That group, the National Association for College Admission Counseling, released a proposed policy statement last month, which, if approved by its members, would expressly forbid colleges from using commission-based agents to recruit domestically or internationally. Colleges that do could be subject to sanctions.

At the annual meeting here this week of Nafsa: Association of International Educators, the admissions group’s potential policy change is being received uneasily by college officials and overseas counselors alike. Hundreds of conferencegoers packed a Tuesday afternoon session on overseas recruiting.

The proposed policy would not ban the use of all private-sector recruiters abroad. Rather, it would prohibit American colleges from paying overseas agents on a per-student basis. That practice already is illegal in the United States, and the change would bring domestic and international policy in line.

Interesting how the traditional are so quick to comment negatively on the recruiting practices of the for profits in the US while they pay fees for international students.

view article in its entirety at the Chronicle: http://chronicle.com/article/Debate-Over-Pay-for-Overseas/127730/

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Department of Education, for profit education, international student frenzy, non profits paying recruiting fees, non-profit vs. for profit, pay per student fees, student marketing, traditional's pay fees for students

Thiel Fellowship Pays 24 Talented Students $100,000 Not to Attend College

May 25, 2011 By EDU Guy 2 Comments

The winners were announced today for a new fellowship that has sparked heated debate in academic circles for questioning the value of higher education and suggesting that some entrepreneurial students may be better off leaving college.

Peter Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal, will pay each of the 24 winners of his Thiel Fellowship $100,000 not to attend college for two years and to develop business ideas instead

Doesn’t this continue to demonstrate that traditional education is not the right choice for everyone? Career based education & accelerated paced degree programs commonly offered by for profit education firms are more aligned with the needs of many. Watch and you will see many of the traditional colleges take another page from the for profit schools by offering accelerated programs 3 years for a bachelors, 18 months for an associates…

Good article from the chronicle: http://chronicle.com/article/Thiel-Fellowship-Pays-24/127622/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

Filed Under: For Profit Education Industry, Uncategorized Tagged With: consumer demand for education, cost of tuition, for profit education, forprofit colleges, getting paid not to go to college, non-profit vs. for profit, quality of online education, the anti scholarship