Even after finishing their degrees, most Black graduates in a new study said they wouldn’t choose their for-profit college again.

The Institute for College Access and Success conducted focus groups with 12 Black graduates of for-profit programs. Their reflections add to existing data showing stark racial disparities.

📚 Read more: Students at Illinois for-profit colleges often leave worse off than they started (via our partner WBEZ Chicago) 

Black students are overrepresented in for-profit programs, even as enrollment in the sector has declined. More Black students at for-profit colleges take on student debt compared to their peers at public and private nonprofit colleges, and their loans are larger. 

I spoke with Lydia Franz, the report’s primary author. Here are some key takeaways: 

Flexibility at a cost

Nearly all focus group participants cited flexibility as a primary reason for choosing a for-profit school. Almost all of them juggled family and work responsibilities, making online and asynchronous options appealing. Yet, many of them said they ended up missing out on the academic and career support they needed.

It’s an example of perception clashing with reality. A student might look at a for-profit program and think it’s a plus that they can do it on their own time. But “it’s really challenging to complete a college course” without support from instructors, peers, or advisers, Franz said. 

📚 Read more: This college’s strategy for preventing dropouts? Classes half as long (via our partner Wisconsin Watch) 

Heavy debt loads

Focus group participants said they ended up with more debt than anticipated. 

That’s particularly troubling because students who attend for-profit colleges face worse repayment outcomes. Thirty percent of bachelor’s degree recipients who started at for-profit colleges defaulted on their federal student loans within 12 years — seven times the rate of those who started at public colleges, according to the report.

The debt regret is notable because all focus group participants completed their programs. Borrowers who don’t complete their degree are more likely to be unable to make loan payments down the line.

“They have the burdens of pursuing post-secondary education and the debt, but not the income bump that you get from completing,” Franz said. 

Information gaps

Prospective students should consider program cost and job placement rates, and research whether an institution has been subject to lawsuits or oversight action, focus group participants said. 

And states should collect and publicly share detailed data on for-profit colleges to identify abusive practices and help students make informed decisions, the TICAS report recommended. 

📚 Read more: How California channeled money to for-profit schools — while they were under investigation (via our partner CalMatters) 

Problems looming

The report comes at a critical time.

President Donald Trump’s administration has made significant staffing cuts to the Department of Education and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which have monitored for-profit colleges. Students who have been defrauded by their school will face a higher bar to access relief under sweeping legislation Trump signed into law last summer.

“Our hope is that state policymakers and oversight entities will take this as a serious call to action that they need to be paying close attention to these institutions and to Black borrowers,” Franz said. 

📚 Read more: What Workforce Pell Grant expansion may mean for Ohio (via our partner Signal Ohio) 

Franz warned that for-profit colleges may be better positioned to take advantage of Workforce Pell — a new federal program launching July 1 that allows students to use Pell Grants for short-term job training — because they already offer many of those programs.

But Workforce Pell awards still count toward a student’s lifetime Pell eligibility. Advocates worry that students could use up limited federal aid on programs with weak or unproven outcomes.

“Our concern is that if students are using their Pell dollars, we want them to be getting real value,” she said, describing the expansion as “a largely untested space,” given limited data on short-term programs.

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Elsewhere on Open Campus

From Texas: The University of Texas at San Antonio is merging its race and gender department with the department for bicultural studies, which faculty say is the latest example of a troubling trend across the system, Danya Pérez reports at our partner the San Antonio Report.

It’s the latest example of how universities in the state are responding to new limits on the teaching of “controversial subjects,” which Jessica Priest, our reporter at the Texas Tribune has been covering. The policy doesn’t define controversial, and the lack of clarity could lead to professors avoiding difficult material altogether rather than risk complains, opponents say.

UT-Austin consolidated four race and gender departments last month.

From Ohio: Ohio State University has named Ravi V. Bellamkonda, its provost, to be its next president. Ted Carter stepped down as president earlier this week after disclosing an inappropriate relationship to the university’s board of trustees, Amy Morona reported at our partner Signal Ohio. 

Carter stepped down after telling the board about a relationship “with someone seeking public resources to support her personal business,” according to a university statement.

Even as the average length of a president’s tenure is declining, the turnover stands out. Bellamkonda is the university’s fourth president in six years. He joined the university as provost a little over a year ago.

++ Amy is moderating a virtual conversation next week about hiring trends and challenges facing young graduates. She’ll be speaking with Barış Kaymak, economic and policy adviser at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. Sign up here.

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