Frontline investigates for-profit colleges and universities. It examines their recruitment methods, their online curriculum, and connections to big business.
The business of higher education is booming. It s a $400 billion industry fueled by taxpayer money. But what are students getting out of the deal? Critics say a worthless degree and a mountain of debt. Investors insist they re innovators, widening access to education. FRONTLINE follows the money to uncover how Wall Street and a new breed of for-profit universities are transforming the way we think about college in America.
College, Inc. is an episode of the documentary public television Frontline on DVD, examining the dark side of for-profit colleges and universities. Such colleges sell shares to Wall Street investors rather than seeking donations from wealthy alumni, and charge high fees to accept students that the (usually cheaper) nonprofit schools often won't take. But what do those who pay the high tuition costs of for-profit colleges, and take on heavy debt, have to show for their efforts? Can the degrees obtained be reliably used to get a job and earn a living? Frontline examines all sides of the issue, in this thought-provoking documentary about how a new trend in higher education is literally transforming college in America.