Ep. 93: Is For-Profit Higher Education on Its Last Legs?

Does the possible sale of the University of Phoenix to a public university system signal the demise of the for-profit higher education sector that Phoenix once epitomized?
 
This week’s episode of The Key analyzes the implications of recent news that a nonprofit affiliated with the University of Arkansas System might buy the former giant among for-profit colleges. Joining the discussion are Kevin Kinser, who heads the department of Education Policy Studies at Pennsylvania State University; Julie Peller, executive director of the nonprofit Higher Learning Advocates and a longtime expert on federal higher ed policy; and Paul Fain, who edits a weekly newsletter called The Job and a former editor of Inside Higher Ed.
 
The episode focuses less on the possible sale of Phoenix -- about which details remain sketchy -- than on the overall state of for-profit institutions, the changing definition of “for-profit” in higher education, and how to regulate the increasingly blurry landscape of postsecondary education and training.

Hosted by Inside Higher Ed Editor Doug Lederman.