But I've also seen how for-profit schools' mandate to serve both students and shareholders leads to big differences between the public and for-profit models.
But Kaplan has been squeezed under the weight of new federal rules that place greater limits on how for-profit colleges can recruit and enroll low-income students.
It does raise the question, however, of how for-profit finance and development-for-development's sake can build new and effective ties.
A J Angulo is the author of Diploma Mills: How For-Profit Colleges Stiffed Students, Taxpayers and the American Dream Join the higher education network for more comment, analysis and job opportunities, direct to your inbox.
We must also consider how for-profits should contribute to the fair access agenda.
That's exactly how for-profit colleges started to legitimize access to fed student aid programs in the 90s and again, we see what the logical ends of that are.
A strong new investigative report on how for-profit colleges use deceptive recruiting to sell students -- especially veterans -- worthless degrees.
A recent federal crackdown on the sector provides a view into how for-profit education's worst players have managed to boost enrollment.
The article, by reporter Michelle Celarier, explored how for-profit colleges under scrutiny for misconduct frequently employ "Beltway heavy hitters" to gain political clout.
The consolidation of the industry changed how for-profit schools operated, argues Elizabeth Baylor, senior investigator on a landmark 2012 Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee study of for-profits.
