Politics

Detroit's Leadership Class Has A University Of Phoenix Problem

November 01, 2013, 12:30 PM

Benny Napoleon finally made it to WDET's Craig Fahle Show Friday morning and, during a discussion about marijuana policy, the Wayne County Sheriff touted his credentials, not only as law enforcement veteran, but also as a criminal justice professor. He didn't mention that he taught at the for-profit University of Phoenix.

Napoleon's ties to the University of Phoenix aren't unique. Detroit Police Chief James Craig isn't just a University of Phoenix pitchman, he's also an alumnus. Craig has a Master's degree in management from the chain university. 

This is a real problem because the University of Phoenix is the educational equivalent of patent medicine or payday loans

New York Times: The report, “Subprime Opportunity,” by the Education Trust, found that in 2008, only 22 percent of the first-time, full-time bachelor’s degree students at for-profit colleges over all graduate within six years, compared with 55 percent at public institutions and 65 percent at private nonprofit colleges.

Worse, students at these for-profit "schools" (Phoenix says it's the largest) also end up with significantly higher student loan debt compared to students at public or private non-profit institutions of higher learning. 

San Jose Mercury-News: Former students at for-profit schools accounted for nearly half of all federal loan defaults here, in the most recent count, though they make up just about 10 percent of the area's college students. Loan defaults, which have serious credit score consequences, tend to occur when someone earns too little to pay off college debt.

According to USA Today, the University of Phoenix's Detroit campus has a graduation rate of 10%, but student loan default rate of 26.4%.

Craig, in his uniform as Cincinnati police chief, extolled the virtues of the University of Phoenix in a 2012 national commercial: "If you want to make a difference, you have to have the right education." What he was really doing was leading thousands of aspirational, well-meaning students down a primrose path. Even those who do graduate from for-profit schools without crippling debt are mostly worse off than students from traditional schools.

Inside Higher Ed: For the study, the authors -- Kevin Lang and Russell Weinstein, economists at Boston University -- examined data from the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study for some 16,6803 students who began postsecondary education for the fi…rst time in the 2003-4 academic year. Specifically, the researchers focused on those starting certificate and associate degree programs.

In certificate programs, the study found little economic gain for those who completed -- regardless of what kind of institutions they attended. But for those who started in associate degree programs, the study found "large, statistically significant benefits from obtaining certificates/degrees from public and not-for-profit but not from for-profit institutions."

The research is pretty clear. Follow James Craig's advice about becoming "a Phoenix" and you'll likely end up saddled with debt and (maybe) an unmarketable degree.

One can understand Napoleon's desire to pick up some extra cash adjuncting -- who knows, maybe he has a real passion to teach -- or Craig's interest in padding his resume with a Master's degree. However, both men hold positions of leadership in a community with serious educational and workforce challenges. When they allow their reputations to burnish the credibility of an outfit as shady as University of Phoenix, it has consequences for students, for taxpayers, and for the economy.

It would be nice if our leaders had enough integrity to avoid the for-profit education scam. Apparently, that's too still much to hope for in Detroit.


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