President Mellow's Editorial: "Racing to the Bottom With For-Profit Colleges"

As a national dialogue on government funding for public education deepens, President Mellow continues to advocate for affordable, quality higher education with her editorial “Racing to the Bottom with For-Profit Colleges,” which was added yesterday to the widely-read Huffington Post blog.

In this article, she points out the enormous disparity between financial aid monies disbursed to public colleges and universities and to for-profit colleges whose profits contrast with the striking debt their students incur once they graduate. The article further highlights that the growth of these investor-owned institutions has compromised the ability of public institutions such as LaGuardia Community College to serve student needs at a time when enrollment is reaching new heights.

The facts of this imbalance are astonishing. Although they educate only 9% of Americans, for-profits receive 21% of Pell money and federally subsidized student loans. The top five for-profit colleges received over $1.3 billion in Pell grants alone last year- yet nearly one-quarter of their students default after four years, compared to less than 10% of borrowers from public colleges.

We urge you to read the article, add your comments and pass it along: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gail-mellow/racing-to-the-bottom-with_b_630003.html

To learn more about President Mellow's expertise as an advocate of community colleges and affordable public higher education, visit: www.laguardia.edu/gailmellow