“For Profit” Colleges Enrolling More Americans

Barron’s notes that the “for Profit” colleges have managed to bring back many younger Americans to classrooms. This was after the disastrous and growing dropout rate that made America Inc, desperate for trained workforce.

Before these colleges came up, most of the youth went straight to trade schools of DeVry Inc. (NYSE: DV) or ITT Educational Services, Inc. (NYSE: ESI). With the emergence of the younger colleges in the sector, enrolment rose 15%. Many followed Apollo Group, Inc.’s (NASDAQ: APOL) model of setting smaller campuses at important locations. These include Corinthian Colleges, Inc. (NYSE: COCO) with 90 campuses and Strayer Education, Inc. (NYSE: STRA) with 70 campuses. While Apollo Group has 400,000 students, its competitor, Education Management (NYSE: EDMC) has more than 100,000 students.