A Veblenian Analysis of For-Profit Universities

Abstract: Education policy has been guided by two seemingly opposing forces: (i) broadening access to the community’s knowledge base and (ii) privatizing the costs of that access. Broadening access entails helping marginal students — the poor, minorities, single women, veterans, and so on. Privatizing access involves government-provided loans and grants totaling $138 billion from 2010 to 2016 to students attending for-profit schools. This policy resulted in low graduation rates, while still enriching stock holders, giving them “something for nothing.” Addressing low graduation rates requires changing the accreditation of for-profit schools, a change that affects the allocation of federal funds, changes that the Obama administration tried to implement. The issue raises several questions. First, how would Thorstein Veblen view efforts to expand educational opportunities for students? Second, what factors gave rise to for-profit schools? And third, what policies can we enact to provide students with access to higher education?

Duke Scholars

Author Jessica Seidelman Medicine, Infectious Diseases