Misleading Marketing At For Profit Colleges Essay

Ground rule #6: If you mimic the market leaders, you'll just add to their dominance.

A college education is valuable and its quality is of the highest importance to most Americans. In his essay, “On the Uses of a Liberal Education: As Lite Entertainment for Bored College Students,” Mark Edmundson utilizes ethos, pathos, and logos to effectively deliver his argument that the current educational system, especially in college, revolves around consumerism which in turn has negatively impacted students, teachers, and universities in general. However, although Edmundson presents an overall logically sound argument, there are few instances throughout the article that may hinder the reliability of his claims to the audience.

In the twenty-first century, there is heavy competition between colleges. Unfortunately, the ideal theory of the free market economy does not exist in the real world, because no one actually values quality. Most consumers never care about quality nor do they have the time to inform themselves; they only care about convenience. In other words, they will likely prefer inferior products. As a result, colleges have been competing in a downwards spiral of education quality. In his essay, “Why Colleges Shower Their Students with A’s,” Brent Staples criticizes colleges for inflating grades through comparing and contrasting, exemplifying, analyzing cause and effect, and making an argument.

Kevin Carey is direct with what he believes is wrong with for-profit universities. He believes that they do offer classes that may be a better option for non-traditional or low-income students. However, these universities are doing these while scamming taxpayers throughout the country. These universities receive millions of dollars in funding from the government in grants and are still able to make a profit, although, many students are unable to repay their student loans in a timely manner. Some personnel within these universities use tactics to convince students to apply for loans, knowing that it is not a financially intelligent decision. Not only is this borderline unethical, but many students that receive these loans default on the payments. The for-profit universities are even attempting to change the funding from the current 90/10 rule, which states, the amount of federal funding cannot exceed 90 percent of total revenue. One quarter of all of federal aid is given to for-profits, even though, they account for less than 10 percent of students. Considering this information, government funding would be better served elsewhere.

Among these is the continuation of the cycle of debt in American commercial society, the hierarchy of differing higher education institutions and cost, and the resulting socioeconomic and racial inequities in college demographics. Both an examination of the current trends and figures and a closer look at a real life example show the troublesome state of higher education and its effect on our commercial society.

Throughout the USA college tuition has increased drastically; in the last five years Georgia colleges have had 75% increase along with other states such as Arizona whose tuition has increased by 77% (NPR). Since 2006 the tuition in Utah has increased by 62.8% and is rising throughout the U.S. (Desert News). Between 1885-2016 the price of college has increased between 2.1% to 4.3% per year beyond inflation (CollegeBoard). Through calculations, that equates to about a hundred precent increase since 1885. It’s no secret that college tuition has skyrocketed, increasing student debt and leaving prospective students to ask “Is College Worth It?” college education is beneficial in that it teaches students valuable life lessons in responsibility, prepares students to enter the workforce and can be relatively inexpensive. The eduction is “college education” is worth every penny but America has created clichés to define the college experience which are expensive and unnecessary. In a radical new world a college education is required in many high paying jobs, which leads to the question “Is the experience of college all it is built up to be?” Through recent research, many articles and news mention about the value of higher education seem to only take account of is the financial aspect. A college education is worth what one makes it and is an investment in a future and in one’s self. The purpose of college the education is to be prepared to go into a the workforce having gained the

As the cost of a higher education increases exponentially, so does the impatience of the American college student. Matt Taibbi, the author of “Ripping Off Young America: The College Loan Scandal,” published in Rolling Stone on August 15, 2013, attempts to tap into an arising issue for an increasing amount of college bound students. He develops his argument by identifying two “enemies” behind rising tuition costs, using undisputable facts in the process, demonstrating his regard for logos. Taibbi also realizes his obligation to use personal stories, along with informal words and phrases, employing the pathos appeal to earn credibility among his primary audience - young Americans.

In general, for-profit schools cost more to attend, because they are run like businesses. And it definitely does not take a college degree to see that these high prices plus low income students equal greater risk of default. For-profit colleges began as family owned trade schools but over the years they have expanded into educational businesses that accept any student, regardless of their financial wellbeing or aptitude. On the other hand, traditional schools have neglected to notice the rising need for an education that is flexible and convenient. In his article “Why Do You Think They’re Called For-Profit Colleges,” Kevin Carey writes to an audience of higher education students and faculty to convince them the pros and cons of both traditional and for-profit schools using different rhetorical, organizational, and stylistic strategies.

Kevin Carey takes a deep look into the controversies concerning for-profit colleges. For-profit colleges have received harsh criticism from institutions because of the way they recruit new students and use the loan system to gain even more of a profit, added on to the price of schooling. Even though only 10 percent of students get enrolled, a quarter of all federal aid goes to for-profit colleges. That seems extremely unfair. Carey begins with bringing us bad news, for-profit colleges do abuse the system of student loans, however they also bring educational opportunities for those who may have not had the option to attend college.

Higher education has become a staple of American society. With over 20 million students attending over 4,500 degree granting institutions, the role that higher education has played on larger society is paramount (Thelin, 2017). However, despite the popularity of higher education institutions, the exact purpose of higher education has changed from century to century and may serve different purposes depending on who is asked. Higher education today is arguably both a public and private good. While state and federal governments have invested in a variety of higher education initiatives, as well as assisted thousands of students with attending college through loans and scholarships in hopes that students use their acquired skills and

America’s education system has been in a state of distress for the past decade, but garnished headlines recently as the student loan debt crisis reached over a trillion dollars. In conjunction with that, tuition is no longer the only obstacle a student faces when considering their future. As generations come and go, universities have slowly, but surely, been angling their education in a way to favor profit over knowledge. Because of the new direction higher education models are taking, Magdalena Kay questions her readers, “is there a problem with students, with teachers, with administrators, or maybe

In the article, “College is a Waste of Time and Money”, Caroline Bird explains why higher education is not always the right choice for students after high school. The author believes that students do not come to the decision to attend college on their own but they are expected to and pressured by parents, advisors, and society. In the beginning of the article the author argues that colleges use techniques to sell themselves just like any other product on the market. They advertise what they have to offer and tell students what they want to hear. She also feels that campuses, stemming from the riots in the 1960’s, have started to

This case study analyzes the experiences of Courtland Kelley at General Motors (GM). Courtland Kelley a third generation GM worker put his job on the line by pushing the GM managers and executives to fully respond to the safety issues found while working as a safety inspector at the company. Kelley along with his supervisor Bill McAleer first discovered the issues while auditing GM cars at rail yards across the country, a spot check of vehicles before the cars were cleared to be delivered to the dealers. McAleer was taken off the audit as a result, who subsequently sued the company seeking whistle-blower protection. The case was eventually dismissed by a judge in favor of GM. The judgement only increased Kelley’s

Today colleges are growing more and more necessary for attaining a solid path towards a successful career, yet the rapidly increasing cost of tuition is driving students away from their dream of attending college, due to the preposterous amount of money that is now being demanded by colleges across the nation and world as a whole. It is sad to see students being turned away from a successful future due to the money-hungry nature of the universities that dot the globe. More and more impossible it is becoming to have a “rags-to-riches” scenario that used to highlight the American Dream, as if a student doesn’t have the riches to afford a higher education and the tuition that is drug upon its coattails, then our society is doomed to be clothed in rags forever, unless major changes are brought about to restructure and end the indefatigable growth of tuition rates across the board.

In political races in the United States logical fallacies are a staple in political ads. The 2012 election was no exception to this convention, especially being true in an advertisement with ex-steel plant worker Joe Soptic, speaking in Obama-affiliated Political Action Committee Priorities. The advertisement included many logical fallacies to argue against the Romney campaign. Those include post hoc reasoning, ad hominem, and slippery slope.