Looking at cohort year 2008 and incorporating transfers puts a better gloss on community college outcomes. Only 26.6 percent of students who started at community colleges had completed within 8 years—not good. But one-third eventually enrolled at a different institution, and 2 percent were still at their original school. So about 62 percent were done or had transferred.
How does this compare to two-year for-profits? About 65 percent completed—much higher than at community colleges. But only 3.9 percent transferred. And for-profit students were far more likely to be enrolled in shorter certificate programs than longer associate’s degree programs than were community college students.
Carey notes that a far larger share of for-profit students are in four-year programs than two-year, and four-year for-profits have “much lower graduation rates than those of comparable public institutions.” Four-year publics do seem to perform better: Only 32.3 percent of for-profit students in four-year programs had completed their programs within eight years, versus 56.4 percent of students in public four-year institutions. (Of course, neither rate is very impressive.) Include transfers and continued enrollment at starting institutions, and public four-year colleges could have a persistence rate as high as 79.2 percent, versus only 40.2 percent for for-profit institutions.
But here’s the thing: For-profits work with students with much greater challenges.
Students at four-year for-profit schools are significantly older—less “traditional”—than at 4‑year publics, with mean ages of 31.7 versus 23.9 years. Student ages are comparable at public and for-profit two-year schools, with a mean of about 27.
For-profit students are much more likely to be from underserved minority groups. About 55 percent of students in less-than-two-year for-profit programs are black or Hispanic, as are 46 percent of students in two-year for-profits. At community colleges, only 35 percent of students come from these groups. At four-year schools, 41 percent of for-profit students are from these groups, versus only 27 percent at public colleges.
For-profit students are much more likely to have dependents. In less-than-two-year for-profit programs, 46 percent of students have dependents, as do 42 percent of students in two-year for-profit schools. Only 32 percent of community college students do. About 56 percent of students at four-year for-profits have dependents, versus only 16 percent at public four-year colleges.
Finally, for-profit students are far more likely to have poorly educated parents. In less-than-two-year and two-year for-profits, 50 percent of students’ parents maxed out at a high school diploma or less. At community colleges, only 38 percent of students’ parents had such limited education. At four-year for-profit schools, 49 percent of students have parents whose education topped out no higher than high school. Only 26 percent of public four-year college students were the same.
What does all this suggest? Neither community colleges nor for-profit schools are, on the whole, producing very good outcomes, but before making any pronouncements about who is sufficiently appreciated, a lot of context is necessary. And considering the massive taxpayer subsidies to the entire Ivory Tower, maybe no parts of higher education deserve much appreciation.