By Jeff Gelles, Inquirer Staff Writer.
Students who attend for-profit colleges – nearly one-tenth of all those enrolled in higher education in 2009, according to a new U.S. Senate committee report – are more likely to wind up mired in debt than their counterparts who attend public or nonprofit institutions, says a study by the National Consumer Law Center. But wherever they were schooled, it says, students who fail to capitalize on their training are often stuck with no way out of debt.
The consumer group’s study was made public Monday, the same day Sen. Tom Harkin (D., Iowa) released findings from a two-year examination of the for-profit higher-education industry by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Both reports suggest that students attending for-profit schools face an extra measure of financial risk.
The Senate report, citing Education Department data, said that 96 percent of students enrolled at for-profit institutions borrowed for school in 2009 – compared with 13 percent at community colleges, 48 percent at public four-year colleges, and 57 percent at private colleges.
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