Online Universities

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In addition to preying on the poor, they also prey on individuals with special needs.

For example, there are some kids with learning disabilities or intellectual disabilities who while they may not be a good fit for say, 4 year college, have the potential to go into a career-technical education program (ex. auto tech, administrative, etc.) and do very well.

Generally speaking, college is not for everyone. This is also true for these kids. In many cases, they just know "I want to go to college" but do not know what it entails, that it costs, and that they may not be able to handle college level courses. School counselors and special ed teachers don't DISCOURAGE checking out college, but also make sure to present them opportunities to check out these types of non-4 year degree programs (run via our local career centers and other non-profits) or other career paths in addition to state universities and such.

The big for-profit schools KNOW that these kids are not aware of what it takes to get a college degree. They prey on that by presenting at special needs HS transition fairs (events that help to prepare kids with disabilities for life after HS.) Parents (especially those who have never been to college) buy the whole "your kid can totally graduate from For Profit U! don't listen to what the SPED teacher is saying. Come register with us!" Mind you, many of these kids need certain accommodations to access their HS classes IN PERSON. There's no way they can handle an online learning environment if they've never done it before.

They register, pay $$ to take a class, kid fails. For Profit U does not care because it just made a ton of $ preying on kids/parents who just want their kids to "have degrees like everyone else."

There's a particular for-profit who notorious for this, to the point that most Directors of SPED in the area don't invite them to things like Life After HS Day for their special needs students.