I thought for-profit dumpster fires like University of Phoenix were no longer relevant. Yes, they have lost a lot of market share, but considering their near-death experience which exposed who they really are, one would think that no one would attend these schools at all and UoP would finally shut down.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2023/03/22/gi-bill-university-of-phoenix-veterans-affairs/11486672002/
Well, the focus of education these days is employment. I think this is yet another biproduct. Vets are not necessarily interested in the "traditional college experience" and want easy access and flexibility and an easy in to a career (which apparently UOP lies about in its advertising). I wonder how much of this is people getting a "masters" degree from UOP.
I always loved having vets in my classrooms. They were the best people.
I'm glad that when my brother got out of the service he knew enough not to be taken in by a for-profit scam school when he got to work completing his long-delayed education.
Since many are using their preference points for GS roles, a degree is often a box checking exercise that will move you up on the scale. It makes perfect sense to do it in the easiest way possible.
Phoenix and others like it are regionally accredited and explicitly approved by the Dept of Veterans Affairs. One can get ripped off by a host of non-profit colleges, too. For veterans, the incentive to be careful is absent, for someone else is paying tuition.
The source of the problem is not profits, but rather regulatory failure.