L.R. #1

Tierney, W., & Hentschke, G. (2007). New Players, Different Game: Understanding the rise of for-profit colleges and Universities. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

SUMMARY: The book’s title pretty much sums up what it’s all about which is understanding the rise of for-profit colleges and universities. The book explains differences in for-profits compared to traditional colleges and universities. All of the for-profit colleges are profit driven which pushes education standards downward. This is the key difference that interests me. Because of the profit incentive, (FPU) care less about their service and more about quantity of their customer. Yes, the book switches the roll of student in traditional colleges to a costumer in (FPU). Costumers, the book explains, that are geared toward a fast and convenient path to graduation. This is where (FPU) has their hook because they know most of the adult population does not believe it has the time for a traditional four-year college. Also, (FPU) are enrolling students at a speedy rate. “For-profit enrollments have increased at about seven times the rate of the entire sector.”(51). Another quote from the book is this, “(FPU) recruit and enroll students who do not have a high school diploma..”(140). This correlates directly with the enormous growth rate of (FPU) because they are enrolling just about any one. And again this will speak to high default rates of (FPU) customers.

-William Tierney is a very trustworthy source for any topic relating to higher education. Currently, he is Co-Director of the Pullias Center for Higher Education, University Professor and Wilbur-Kieffer Professor of Higher Education at the Rossier School of Education. 

Success- In terms of for-profit colleges, success is defined by how fast the college is growing and if its making profit.

In the intro the author introduces and idea proposed by Richard Scott, a sociologist from Stanford. He characterizes every sociologist a lumper or a splitter. “Such labels were a reference to tendency of sociologists either to examine a wide variety of phenomena and “lump” them together as variations on a fundamental theme or to examine one phenomena, framing it as a fundamental “split” from other, similar phenomena.”(1). This view on higher education can either put (FPU) in different league or (FPU) are extending higher education to a new future.

This is a lengthy book dedicated solely to (FPU) making it essential to my topic and research paper.