Students treated as customers

By: Anthony Pereira / Contributing Writer

have many options for education these days, but while there are many great options, there are also many schools out there behaving more like businesses than actual learning institutions.

Profits are the motivation behind business. To attain the highest profits possible, the business needs to constantly cut their budgets. This is the model for every business, and is the reason why education should not be a business.

Each state has its publicly-funded schools and private institutions. Among the private institutions are the smaller, for-profit schools. Everest and Keiser are two examples of this business model in Florida.

These schools spend the majority of their beginnings trying to become accredited by the state, as this is the only way its students will be able to receive state funds such as financial aid.

Many of these schools are online-only, which means they have no physical campus or faculty, which is a clear indication of just how profitable they can be.

According to hackeducation.com, University of Phoenix’s profits rose $1.33 billion in one quarter, despite a disappointing 42 percent drop in student enrollment.

Another outrageous number is the amount that these schools spend on the marketing of their brand, which is often more than what they spend on the curriculum or actual teaching that goes on in the school.

According to adage.com, University of Phoenix spends over $100 million on ad campaigns alone.

These schools, while having the benefit of flexible scheduling, which is more of a marketing tool than anything else because of the fact that most major institutions offer the same thing, are the subject of much scrutiny because of the many negative allegations made by its students.

A “PBS Frontline” documentary titled “College Inc.” discusses that very matter. In this documentary, former students of major for-profit institutions give candid interviews on the subject of the faulty education they received at these schools.

Now, this is not to say that all the students had terrible experiences, but it is to say that all that glitters is not gold. A perfect example of this is in the nursing industry.

Many of these for-profit schools that offer nursing programs have a clause in their enrollment contracts that states that the locations of their training are subject to change at any time. The moment students sign these contracts, there is nothing they can do after graduating if they feel that the school did not give proper schooling.

According to Nora, Martha and Susan, graduates of Everest College, if they were to apply for a hospital job, it would be very difficult to get that job if the employer sees that the perspective student has never practiced in an actual hospital, which is exactly what happened during their respective job searches.

In their cases, the college claimed they would have the training at a hospital, but because of that clause on the contract, they were not legally obligated to do so and are safe from legal action.

That is a simple technique used by every company to maximize profits: do anything and everything to trick the customer into paying. Clauses are something that do not belong in school contracts. They belong in businesses, which is precisely what these institutions are.

The main objective of these colleges is to make money, just like any other business. They are not wrong in how they run their schools; they are simply doing what is best for their pockets.

Their ultimate responsibility is to please their shareholders and CEO, not their students, which is why they should be seen more as companies with clients instead of schools with students. The student at these schools pays for the services that should ultimately lead to an end, such as a meaningful learning experience, but the college is not concerned with that end as much as they are with the means.

Here at the University, the school is funded by the state, which means the government oversees financial affairs and has a invested interest in the students and the college not taking advantage of its funds. That is the way it should work.

There is no negative accusation that can honestly be made to the for-profit schools, as they are only doing what every single business should do, which is to make as much money as possible.

What students need to decide is whether or not they are comfortable going to an institution that sees them as a customer, and not as a student.