Factors to Weigh Before Enrolling at a For-Profit College
U.S. News
Sarah Wood
February 12, 2025
Enrollment at for-profit colleges rose significantly in fall 2024, especially among freshmen, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
Four-year, for-profit colleges experienced the largest overall enrollment increase among all school types – 7.5%, according to new Clearinghouse data.
“The fact that college enrollment has rebounded from the COVID drop is encouraging news,” Donna Stelling Gurnett, president of the Association of Private Colleges, which represents a group of proprietary and nonprofit colleges in New York, wrote in an email.
“The approximately 750,000 undergraduates attending for-profit colleges nationwide is a fraction of the 16 million total undergraduate students in the U.S. It doesn’t take a lot of students to make the percentage increase look big. Additionally, public and nonprofit institutions experienced less volatility over the years since the COVID pandemic.”
The highest increase in enrollment at for-profits was among freshmen age 25 or older, about 49%, per Clearinghouse data.
Those in that age group “are looking for jobs and they probably think that much of the advertising is geared toward helping students to become job ready,” says Colleen Paparella, founder of DC College Counseling, a college admissions counseling firm. “That would be my guess, that they’re focused on getting a job and they believe that this is the best way to get there.”
Many for-profit colleges – which are funded by investors and can be subsidiaries of a larger corporation – offer online education options, often provide niche or job-specific programs, and typically attract adult learners who are drawn to their flexibility and convenience.
However, not all for-profit colleges are equal, so consider the following factors before enrolling at one.
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