Chapter 3: Examining the Phenomenon of for Profit Colleges and Universities for Minority Students: Implications for Black Males

In the last 20 years, the U.S. higher education system has witnessed the tremendous growth of for-profit postsecondary educational opportunities. In fact, for-profit colleges and universities (FPCUs) have quickly become the fastest growing segment of postsecondary education (Silber, 2006; Snyder & Hoffman, 2003). Moreover, with innovative practices and alternative delivery of educational services, FPCUs have established a considerable pipeline for minority students, especially Blacks (Berg, 2005; Donini-Lenhoff & Brotherton, 2010; Farrell, 2003). Proponents have argued that FPCUs permit minority students to earn degrees and advance in their careers more quickly than traditional colleges, which often require more courses and less flexibility for course scheduling and course delivery (DiMaria, 2007; Pekow, 2007). Unfortunately, at FPCUs, significant increases in minority student enrollment rates, progress, and success (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2010) have been contrasted with low graduation rates (NCES, 2010), higher attrition rates (Donini-Lenhoff & Brotherton, 2010), and high student loan defaults (Clark, 2011; Lewis, 2008).