The New York Times is running an article entitled, “With Trump, Investors See Profits Again in For-Profit Colleges.” The article begins, “It hasn’t been a good couple of years for for-profit colleges. Many of them, usually offering vocational training, have had to close outlets as the federal government cracked down on their advertising and student loan practices. Two of the largest, ITT Technical Institute and Corinthian Colleges, shut down.”
The article continues, “Then came the election of Donald J. Trump as president. Stock prices of the companies still running for-profit colleges rose sharply. DeVry University shares rose 17 percent in the days after the election. The shares of the company that owns University of Phoenix, Apollo Education Group, the largest for-profit, increased 6 percent. Both are at a 52-week high. The broad S.&P. 500 index, by contrast, rose 1.3 percent in the days after the election.”
Read the article here.
Questions for Discussion.
- Do teachers have a responsibility for their students? For what are teachers responsible? In what ways are schools responsible for their students? Do students share this responsibility? If so, how? Why? If not, why not?
- What is a for-profit education institution? What does it mean to invest in for-profit education? Do you think it would be wise to invest in for-profit education now? Why or why not?
- The article states, “Mr. Trump’s decision on who will lead the Education Department could provide a glimpse of his priorities.” What does this sentence mean? Is it a fact or an opinion? Explain!
- If you were interviewing somebody to head the United States Department of Education what questions would you ask them? Why would you ask these questions? How would you expect them to answer?
