The News is Depressing

I am reminded tonight why I do not watch a lot of news shows on TV, or the semi-news shows. Tonight, for an hour, I watched a show on PBS about for profit universities. This may not be the exact link to the show, but you will get the drift: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/collegeinc/view/. 

It was really depressing.  Although the for profits offer opportunities, they offer the pitfalls of higher education at much greater the price than public education.  And there was indication that their recruiters are under even higher pressure than the pressure placed on government or religious based institutes of higher education recruiters. And, they may not be above board about their outcomes and accreditation.  So people who use them may not obtain the results that they were lead to believe they would obtain.

This did not surprise me.  I think I am discerning enough to recognize that for profit education runs some risks, and while I may not have stated all of them, intuitively, these are some of the risks that I would have expected.

The sad part about this story is that it is a story of people who are honestly and earnestly trying to better themselves so they can enter into the job market, develop a career, make something of themselves, and otherwise improve their lot in life. And the scamsters may or may not be taking advantage of them, and their desperation, but it is a fine line. And, as with any fine line, many will cross either way.