Proprietary colleges

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Proprietary colleges are American for-profit colleges and universities. They are operated by their owners or investors, rather than a not-for-profit institution, religious organization, or state or local government. Sometimes a proprietary college may also overlap with the sector of non-degree granting business colleges.
Because of this profit motive, some such colleges have in the past been investigated for or been charged with illegally admitting students to falsely obtain government financial aid, although traditional colleges have also had this problem.[1] Legislation has tightened considerably the parameters for getting financial aid in recent years.[2] In most cases, degree-granting colleges with accreditation from an agency that is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and is authorized to distribute Title IV student financial aid must meet exacting standards. [3] Students wishing to attend a proprietary college should consider the institution's accreditation. It is also typical that a majority of students attending proprietary colleges receive some form of government financial aid, such as Pell Grants and student loans. [4]

Perhaps the most visible proprietary colleges are the University of Phoenix, Capella University, ITT, and the Art Institutes.[5] Other such colleges include Virginia College, Bryant & Stratton College in upstate New York, and Monroe College in the New York City area.[6]

Proprietary colleges are sometimes called career colleges, business colleges, proprietary schools, institutes, or for-profit colleges. However, the preferred term is Proprietary colleges.[7]

[edit] Sources and notes

  1. ^ See Albany Times Union article of April 3, 2007: [1]; NY Attorney General web site press release about settlement with 29 colleges: [2]
  2. ^ This needs a cite.
  3. ^ See references for accrediting bodies; get cites for other accrediting bodies.
  4. ^ This paragraph was adapted from the Virginia College Wikipedia page.
  5. ^ See above paragraph, also from the Virgina College article.
  6. ^ College web sites: Virginia College [[3]], BSC [4], Monroe[5]
  7. ^ Association for Proprietary Colleges web site: [[6]]
  • Financial aid information: [7]
  • Education Finance Partners: [8]
  • Middle States Commission on Higher Education: [9]
  • Eastern Region Regional Competency-Based Education Consortium web site: [10]
  • See also Business College.
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