Lost in the uproar over our new Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is another education-related appointment that needs no Senate confirmation. Trump plans to make Jerry Falwell Jr. head of his task force to deregulate higher education.
The Obama administration made some significant advances in draining the for-profit university swamp. Think Corinthian Colleges and ITT Tech, both of which went into bankruptcy when the Feds exposed them for the educational scams they were. Think University of Phoenix, which lost students and profitability when it was forced to mend its predatory recruiting practices. Trump and Falwell hope to fill the swamp back up, using federal dollars to fatten the alligators who profit by putting students into debt while giving them little in the way of education in return. “The goal,” Falwell said, “is to pare [Obama-administration initiatives] back and give colleges and their accrediting agencies more leeway in governing their affairs.”
Falwell is president of Liberty University. It’s a nonprofit educational institution with a 14,000 student enrollment, so the brick-and-mortar university wasn’t affected by Obama’s crackdown on for-profits. But Liberty U. also has 65,000 online students, making it the second largest online college after University of Phoenix. Its online education is very profitable.
Most colleges now have a mix of residential and online students, but it’s almost unheard-of to have four times as many online students as residential students.
Because internet courses are cheap to deliver at scale, the online division is a big revenue driver for Liberty, which brought in $591 million in tuition in 2013, against $470 million in expenses. Liberty is essentially a medium-size nonprofit college that owns a huge for-profit college.
Putting Falwell in charge of deregulating the for-profit college sector is kind of like, oh, say, putting Goldman Sachs executives in charge of deregulating the financial sector. Meaning Trump deserves some credit, for being consistent. Henhouse, meet fox.
This article appears in Feb 9-15, 2017.
So to an establishment liberal like Safier appointing someone who has successfully grown a higher level education institution successfully is a detriment?
You criticize the online enrollment but do you have any idea, any idea at all the amount of money ASU is spending to expand their online enrollment thoughout the country?
And what’s wrong with online education? Are you ignoring technology developments over the last 20 years? Of course you are. You’re ignorant to today’s world, fat and happy with your government retirement check.
The education paradigm has changed. Today’s America couldn’t care less about 4 years of indoctrination when the value added learning can be had in 20 months. But not old liberals. Stuck in the past and determined to trap everyone there with them.
What a great choice. Thank God the liberals will not allow discrimination based on anything, or they could have stopped this.
My first time was in an outhouse outside Lynchburg, Virginia.
“I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education.” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
The founders understood the importance of education and an educated electorate to maintaining a nation controlled by the people and their elected representatives.
Those who are in power now would do well to remember that part of what made America great in the first place was public education.
Unfortunately, those in power today know full well that to maintain their control of the people they must take away any opportunity to see behind their facade and discover the house of cards build upon a foundation of maintaining fear and the control of information. Freedom of speech and the freedom of the press have never been in such peril.
David Safier is right here. But it doesn’t matter. His reporting on TUSD is completely compromised by the sad fact that his nose is so far up the asses of the superintendent and assorted lackeys. You whiff shit just reading the stuff. And what does that say for the Weekly? There’s not even pretend objectivity here. Go read his latest, gushy brown-nosing on Kristel Foster’s FB page. You’ll see what I mean. Tucson deserves better than this crap.
Arizona Constitution, Article 11 Section 6.
The university and all other state educational institutions shall be open to students of both sexes, and the instruction furnished shall be as nearly free as possible.
What happened?
That was brilliant What, Again. But why only two of the sexes?
This is ideological war based upon a tax status. For-profit graduate 2-year (certification/certificate) students at a rate of more than double their non-profit peers. The default rates are bad, some recruiting practices were horrible, but the community colleges that have almost equal default rates and entrance standards gobble up government funding without judgement because of their tax status.
Estimated Cost of attendance for in-state undergrads at over $25K per year in our state university system — and this in a “public” university that just raised over $1 billion in private funds for itself — is not “as nearly free as possible.”
Dare we guess that the greater portion of those private funds raised by a public institution will go, not to benefit students or reduce the burdensome cost of tuition, but to support donors’ concerns, e.g. improved research facilities / funding in areas that benefit industries?
In any case, we won’t get any reporting on the topic from Safier. The Arizona Medical Association recently issued a vote of no confidence in the leadership of the University of Arizona medical school system. Every physician or health care professional I’ve spoken with locally says there are serious concerns in the medical community about Banner’s takeover of UMC and the quality of care delivered subsequent to that takeover. Pima Community College has been experiencing disruptions in service delivery and accreditation. Sub labor was outsourced in TUSD, reducing wages and destroying long term subs’ ability to qualify for benefits. Do we hear about any of these serious issues from David Safier?
No.
Why? Dare we guess it is because the politicians for whom he serves as an obedient little lapdog are on the wrong side of that slew of issues which damage our local educational system and exploit students?
“Yip, yip,” David. Keep it up. Lap dogs make great guard dogs for some folks (filthy political networks), but not for others (students who are being exploited and poorly served as the voracious wolves on both sides of the political fence continue to raid the public ed henhouses that should be providing quality education services “as nearly free as possible.”)
If Falwell was a true Christian and real proponent of “religious liberty” he claims he is, then he would teach students, with just love in his heart and certainly not charge them ANYTHING. And he certainly would not want ANY government money, guaranteed loans or anything. Because that would spoil his Liberty. But as usual, flaming hypocrisy is greater than any religious pronouncements. “Woe to you scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows’ houses, and for pretense, say long prayers, therefore you will receive greater condemnation.” Mathew 23:14. Of course they skip that one at Liberty.
They don’t skip it, “Frances,” they just apply it selectively. Just like every lapdog, on the right and on the left, does. Including you. (You’re constantly yammering about failures of financial transparency of charters and privates applying vouchers, but when TUSD stacks its audit committee with employees of the district or claims things in its self-reporting that are not independently verified by an external audit, or fails to apply deseg funds in the way the court-approved plan requires, or violates Open Meeting Laws in how it determines the goals upon which the Superintendent will be awarded his annual inflated bonus, or rubber stamps a ludicrous, inexcusable, extortionate compensation package for the Superintendent, not a peep from you.)
Here’s how you can tell genuinely disinterested, public spirited commenters, when there is any discussion of applying moral standards to politicians: they apply their standards uniformly to all comers, public, private; right, left; Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Green, Independent — you name it.
Frances Perkins – who are you to set the goal post, judge who is and who is not a “True Christian”?
So to you no “True Christian” would have a business enterprise in the United States of America? No “True Christian” would have a job as a teacher and accept a salary?
Notice to all retired Christian public school teachers – return your retirement checks or be condemned, according to the almighty frances perkins.
Romans 4:4 ESV
Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.
Why then would God treat those doing His work as less than the vineyard workers?
UMC had serious care issues before Banner. I don’t wanna gross you out with personal experiences of my self and family members. 10X better care @ St. Joes (clean, explained procedure, calm collected bedside manner, etc.); I’m not sure why UMC always had such a good rep and they didn’t; my experiences have been the opposite of what I’ve heard. I did know a lot of UMC staff tho, I guess they were biased.
Aren’t there four, or five? – Best post I’ve seen in years!
I went to the fully-accredited (regional accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission) for-profit University of Phoenix and I can honestly say I received an exemplary education and it was much better than any education at any not-for-profit state public universities I have attended. I learned amazing skills and consider myself a scholar who is published and notable in his field. The University of Phoenix curriculum was rigorous, meaningful, relevant, and applicable. Not all for-profit schools are “bad” and many schools are changing and adapting to the new rules, for the better! Oh, and let us not start a new form of discrimination where we discriminate against for-profit graduates. These are some of the hardest working Americans I know! And those who complain about not finishing UoPx they could not handle the rigor. Do not ever undermine anyones education. I love the University of Phoenix, enrolling students since 1976, and so do its 1,000,000 Alumni!! Surveys conducted suggested that 92% of alumni are satisfied with their education and outcome. Finally, DO NOT forget that the University of Phoenix educated the non-traditional students and I thank the University of Phoenix! The University filled a demand where traditional academia would NOT! Stop vilifying my school!