The Rise of For-Profit Higher Education: A General Equilibrium Analysis

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Domnisoru, Ciprian; Schiopu, Ioana
• 署名单位: Aalto University; Universitat Ramon Llull; Escuela Superior de Administracion y Direccion de Empresas (ESADE)
• 刊物名称: RAND JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0741-6261
• DOI: 10.1111/1756-2171.70004
• 发表日期: 2025
• 页码: 344-365
• 关键词: college enrollment; student loans; PRIVATE; constraints; subsidies; MARKET; IMPACT

摘要

For-profit colleges have increased their share of the 4-year college market, particularly among nontraditional and online students, raising concerns about post-graduation outcomes. We set up and calibrate a general equilibrium model of college choice to analyze how for-profits compete with public and private nonprofit institutions. We quantify their response to changes in Pell Grant caps, public university subsidies, and gainful employment legislation linking federal funding to graduates' debt-to-earnings ratios. Lowering public sector subsidies increases the market share of for-profit colleges. For-profit institutions prefer to comply with gainful employment standards but do so by lowering tuition and instructional quality.