Thread regarding University of Phoenix layoffs

source: http://www.publicagenda.org/pages/profiting-higher-education Incoming Students Not Well-Informed About College Choices..... Students from for-profit schools - who often come from economically vulnerable populations - are not comparative shoppers. Many are selecting schools without having weighed different options. Just 39 percent of for-profit undergraduates and 32 percent of for-profit alumni had considered more than one school before they enrolled at their current institutions. Students are even less likely to compare for-profit with not-for-profit schools before enrolling, with just 20 percent of for-profit undergraduates and 11 percent of alumni having considered a not-for-profit college. Parallel research with community college students suggests that "comparative shopping" is uncommon among other types of college students as well. Many students seem to be drawn to either for-profit or not-for-profit schools, though rarely to both. ...the reality is that most students in this research are not really making comparisons at all. As our Research Director, Carolin Hagelskamp, put it, "I think sometimes policymakers have this idealistic vision of students sitting down with spreadsheets, comparing colleges across columns and columns of data. But the reality is that most students in this research are not really making comparisons at all. They rely on recommendations from friends and families and hear about schools through ads or because they pass by the schools on the street." - See more at: http://www.publicagenda.org/pages/profiting-higher-education#sthash.afDBG05I.dpuf