Kaplan University

[agzg]

Perhaps that and the fact that education, particularly for-profit education, works in a counter-cyclical market. As economic outlook brightens (and for some it is), fewer people enroll in school, because the costs of going to school (explicit and implicit) outweigh the benefits of putting off working for 3 to 4 years. Enrollments were at their highest in 2008, 2009, 2010 because of the hopelessness of the job market (which is still pretty icky).

Combined with the harsh press, of course, could mean a drop in enrollments. Those companies that have ground-based technical and vocational sides (Everest, etc) are faring a little better but their enrollments drop almost exclusively because of the changes in the job market, since they're not affected as much by national press and more by local (so, problems at an Everest campus in Illinois do not necessarily affect enrollments at an Everest campus in Phoenix).

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by agzg

Perhaps that and the fact that education, particularly for-profit education, works in a counter-cyclical market. As economic outlook brightens (and for some it is), fewer people enroll in school, because the costs of going to school (explicit and implicit) outweigh the benefits of putting off working for 3 to 4 years. Enrollments were at their highest in 2008, 2009, 2010 because of the hopelessness of the job market (which is still pretty icky).

Combined with the harsh press, of course, could mean a drop in enrollments. Those companies that have ground-based technical and vocational sides (Everest, etc) are faring a little better but their enrollments drop almost exclusively because of the changes in the job market, since they're not affected as much by national press and more by local (so, problems at an Everest campus in Illinois do not necessarily affect enrollments at an Everest campus in Phoenix).

Maybe it's all of those factors. I'm just hoping for a correction in the educational market in general. I saw the beginnings of it when I left school, but the Masters is becoming severely devalued in some fields. Maybe now schools--online and bricks-and-mortar--will be more selective in the programs they choose to have, and the students they choose to enroll.

Law schools are experiencing it too--a lot of universities will add law schools because the money and prestige a law school will bring, and they can't prepare their students for a competitive market. Granted, you can't get your JD online, but the same forces drove that boom in law school enrollment.

[als463]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

Maybe it's all of those factors. I'm just hoping for a correction in the educational market in general. I saw the beginnings of it when I left school, but the Masters is becoming severely devalued in some fields. Maybe now schools--online and bricks-and-mortar--will be more selective in the programs they choose to have, and the students they choose to enroll.

Law schools are experiencing it too--a lot of universities will add law schools because the money and prestige a law school will bring, and they can't prepare their students for a competitive market. Granted, you can't get your JD online, but the same forces drove that boom in law school enrollment.

Not true. I'm pretty certain that it is Kaplan that now offers an online JD. It is only accepted in the state of California, though.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by als463

Not true. I'm pretty certain that it is Kaplan that now offers an online JD. It is only accepted in the state of California, though.

Who'd want to get a JD online? The fact that it's only accepted in CA speaks volumes...