This issue site is largely the product of ECS’ three-year effort to develop a clearer picture of the nature, role and impact of the rapidly growing for-profit sector of postsecondary education. The ECS initiative, Private Profit and Public Needs: The Changing Context and Emerging Markets of For-Profit Providers in Higher Education, was supported by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

During the course of this project, ECS made a comprehensive, nationwide inventory of for-profit institutions, gathering information on their program offerings, enrollment, tuition and ownership; analyzed trends in accreditation and state regulation of for-profit colleges and universities; and reviewed and summarized the research literature on the for-profit sector. It also produced a full-length report entitled Meeting Needs and Making Profits: The Rise of For-Profit Degree-Granting Institutions and a paper examining some of the major state policy issues posed by the growth of the for-profit sector.

All of the material produced in connection with the ECS initiative is available on this site, as well as a list of suggested readings, links to useful Web sites and other resources designed to assist policymakers in understanding and addressing issues associated with the emergence of the for-profit sector of higher education.

© 2010 Education Commission of the States
"Equipping Education Leaders, Advancing Ideas"
700 Broadway, #810  |  Denver, Colorado 80203-3442
303.299.3600  |  Fax: 303.296.8332  |  Email: ecs@ecs.org  |  www.ecs.org