For Profit Colleges

Consumer groups urge FTC action on deceptive earnings claims — Consumer Federation of America (CFA) responded to a request for comment from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on proposed regulations around deceptive earnings claims. Specifically, CFA called out gig economy companies, multi-level marketing firms, and for-profit colleges for practices that deceive individuals into believing they’ll be able to live a…

I’ve been asked to mentor a new colleague, just to get him started at New FU, a cupcake factory/“university” I’ve been teaching at as a disjunct (adjunct). I’m waiting for him on Google Meets. When he finally appears, I’m confused. He’s a chimp. Yes, one of the great apes. He’s…

Something weird about working at a for-profit “university” is the way you get emails every week from people you have never heard of with titles you have never heard of. Like, who the hell are you and what the hell is a whatever you are? The email will look something…

The Disjunct is on a roll here lately. Have you grown tired of reading about all the trials and tribulations of an adjunct in higher ed? Yeah. Didn’t think so. What’s funny about being an adjunct these days is how much work the administrators think an adjunct will give —…

Advocates with the Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC) are calling on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to take action to protect student borrowers from the predators lurking at some for-profit colleges. Here’s more from a blog post at SBPC: For decades, the for-profit college industry has systematically preyed on…

Lesson 6: They will f*ck you over at the end of it all, and it will, weirdly, be kind of a relief. You may drink the Kool-Aid (Flavor Aid, really) at first and get very excited about serving an underserved student population. You may wax poetic about helping students achieve their dreams. You may spend hours creating activities and even snazzy videos to help students succeed. You will jump through every hoop…

This post continues my series of rants about the time I sold my soul to the devil. Read Lesson #1 and Lesson #2 if you need to catch up! Lesson #3: You will become an education prostitute. Universities, even for-profits, are all about retention these days. At non-profit universities, you might see more emphasis on orientation, specific classes…

This post continues the “Things I Learned from Teaching For-Profit” series of mild rants about the time I sold my soul to the devil. Lesson #2: You will feel really sorry for the students. You will feel sorry for the actual good students who ended up there at FU, and you will wish they could go elsewhere. We’re talking maybe…