You Can’t Get There from Here

California participates in President Obama’s goal of increasing participation in postsecondary education the state needs to add roughly 100,000 students a year for the next ten years. Public institutions do not have the ability to meet these needs under current fiscal and structural constraints.

What might be the role of private and for-profit colleges and universities in meeting the needs of the state?

Criticism of for-profit higher education, in particular, has made the state hesitant to see them as partners. Debt burden for students, and retention and graduation rates at for-profit institutions have made individuals skeptical about the fastest growing sector in higher education.

In this seminar William G. Tierney considers the criticism of this sector and then outlines the issues the state might consider to ensure students make informed choices, and the three sectors—public, private, and for-profit—work together to meet the goal of increased access.

Speakers include:

• William G. Tierney, Wilbur-Kieffer Professor of Higher Education and Director, Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis, USC Rossier School of Education

Moderated by David N. Plank, Executive Director, PACE