Are more people opting out of “for-profit” schools like DeVry, Corinthian Colleges and the University of Phenoix?
According to the Wall Street Journal, enrollments in those types of schools has plunged recently, as much as 45 percent in some cases.
“People are just frozen or deferring, delaying decisions to go to school,” DeVry Inc. Chief Executive Daniel Hamburger told the WSJ. “The average person in the U.S. has become much more risk-averse and cautious when it comes to spending or committing to anything. It’s unrealistic for us to think that education would be immune from this.”
That could be true, but according to the National Center for Education Statistics, overall college enrollment is actually expected to increase significantly. So are “for-profit” schools taking more of a hit than other traditional four-year degree schools?
According to the article, DeVry was expecting earnings growth for the current fiscal year, but instead saw a 25.6 percent drop in student enrollment.
Enrollment was down 21.5 percent at Corinthian Colleges Inc. Kaplan also saw a 47 percent decline in new-student enrollment for the June quarter.
The decline in enrollment could be because these companies have cut back on their recruitment campaigns after coming under fire for high student-loan default rates. However, the drop also comes at a time when many students are questioning the value of a degree that they’ll be paying off for years to come and are perhaps opting for more tradition four-year schools.
Would you enroll in a “for-profit” school during a recession?
Find more on college enrollment on EducationOption.
