San Diego’s newest corporate darling, Bridgepoint Education

Don, on the "about" page of the site, the sponsor claims to be an individual in Ottawa. Here is the link: http://www.onlinedegreereviews.org/college/page/a… I still think its funny all we hear from are enrollment counselors - sales is a thankless job as far as I'm concerned, and I'm not all blown away and shocked that the for-profit corporation with education as its product has a sales team. I personally would have NEVER been in enrollment, its the worst job at the for-profits. They say advisors (academic) were treated as low on the totem pole, but that is not true: We got job longevity and respect from students and our superiors, and a salary matching our education and service. Whereas, you took a SALES job, made a lot of money, then badmouth the company when you don't perform. Sucks to be you with what you think is a "dishonest" entry on your resume - why'd you stay for six months? There may be lots wrong with the way they recruit students, (although apparently they haven't broken any laws) but this is America, and what industry here is not all profit oriented? There is LOTS wrong with all kinds of marketing I watch on tv, hear on the radio, am exposed to annoyingly all the time. But if they are abiding by the letter of the law, as they claim, then I guess there is room for them just like all the other companies out there to make money. I get a strong sense of false "shock" from all of this. OH MY GOD, the university is trying to make money! I'm done with this, but I humbly suggest for your next article, try to get more people than these "alarmed" sales people to fill you in. From my experience working at a for profit university, not bridgepoint but Apollo, the "sales" teams were always moaning and complaining, always. Its not like they were "saints" who applied for the only job they could get and then had to leave because. They were trying to make a lot of money. And they were always threatening to sue, and some of them actually did. Its extremely distasteful, and dishonest. You really need to find and interview people willing to talk with you who are not in enrollment. I know lots of very good people who work at Ashford, and are genuinely of the belief they are serving students. And, they've been there for many years. As a journalist, you should try to find them.
— May 21, 2010 10:20 a.m.

San Diego’s newest corporate darling, Bridgepoint Education

http://www.onlinedegreereviews.org/college/ashfor… Plenty of good and bad reviews, of course, you never know who is a real student and who is not, but that goes for both bad and good reviews.
— May 19, 2010 9:44 a.m.

San Diego’s newest corporate darling, Bridgepoint Education

Re: I did not make a global claim about every student in this country... You said, "I stand by my statement that the CSU and UC school systems are study intensive, work instensive institutions- and no one can get a degree from one without putting in a substantial amount of hard work." Its not global, but you do include a LOT of schools and students in this statement. And since I went to UC as did a lot of my friends, I think it is funny you "stand by your statement." I think they call that sort of thinking "insane delusions."
— May 17, 2010 5:36 p.m.

San Diego’s newest corporate darling, Bridgepoint Education

Re: "A school that charges more in tuition than a student can repay in an open and free market from the job they can get as a result of the education they received proves that point up." Is it as result of the education they received, or as a result of the tanking economy with a corresponding interest in getting degrees by laid-off and otherwise unemployed persons? If the only reason people are not getting jobs was because of the "quality of thei education they received," then yeah, I would agree. But I have been trying to ask you to think about whether that statement is itself correct. For example, are you suggesting there are plenty of jobs available out there, but the employer is pulling out his "quality of education ranking" manual before making hiring decisions, and leaving positions open if not enough people apply with "high quality" degrees?
— May 17, 2010 5:33 p.m.

San Diego’s newest corporate darling, Bridgepoint Education

"I wnet to private schools my entire life and paid top dollar but I received a qualtiy education" - As I was saying, a major obstacle in non-traditional student's path: elitism.
— May 17, 2010 1:15 p.m.

San Diego’s newest corporate darling, Bridgepoint Education

Surfpuppy, I'm not a "hack or a shill," just someone with a different experience and opinion than you. You may be good at being insulting but not so much comprehension. You are so convinced of your own correctness that a different opinion must be being paid for? That is sad. Would you care to enlighten us about the background for your expertise? I made it WAY past the 3rd grade and I still think a lot of the problem is people like you, who ignorantly refer to any for-profits as a scam school. Your argument is all mean fluff and no substance. Also, its hypocritical that you tell the previous commenter that he "can't" say whether people slack off at other schools because he did not attend those schools. Did you attend every single school about which you hold such a strong opinion?
— May 17, 2010 12:22 p.m.

San Diego’s newest corporate darling, Bridgepoint Education

"How can ANY educational institution, online or on land, enroll so many people in such a short period and give a good education?" Perhaps the number of instructors has steadily risen to match the number of students? Why should the quality of education necessarily suffer as a result of rapid growth? One way, I concede, is when community college classes are being crammed full of students as other courses have been shut down and teachers laid off. But this is not happening at Ashford. Might there not be a correlation between rapid growth and satisfied students, since, e.g., many new students are referrals? How many complaints are there versus number of graduates? I'm pretty sure that at UOR they only hire PhDs and JDs to teach. At Ashford, an MA is required to teach undergrads, just like at many community colleges, though they try to get PhDs for undergrad too. I will think about calling you Don. By the way, I was an academic advisor, not a teacher. Also, I was NOT an enrollment counselor who did not meet my goals, nor were most of my co-advisors. And it was not at Ashford, it was UOP. However, some enrollment counselors who were not meeting their goals but still liked the company AND had their required bachelor's degree sometimes came over to the advising side. We also had ex-financial aid counselors who earned their bachelors and moved over. So what?
— May 17, 2010 11:59 a.m.

San Diego’s newest corporate darling, Bridgepoint Education

Sorry for the long comments, but here is the rest: These stories are very one sided presentations of what the for-profits are accomplishing. If these graduates can't find jobs, perhaps it is in large part a reflection of the elitist mentality of traditional school graduates. These so called "exposes" on for-profit education certainly do nothing to help change that mentality - they are just making it harder for the students to be accepted. I know when I started at UOP, I was a bit "elitist" myself, thinking I was so much better than these other students because I was a "Cal" graduate. Wrong. I have many friends who have graduated from the for profits, and they all have jobs, and make great money - yes, making a living is a motivation for attending school: not everyone is going to school to enter academia or do social work. I just graduated law school with a friend who did her undergrad at UOP, so it is also hollow to imply that all for profit graudates go on to face no job prospects or are not adequately prepared/educated. As for the numbers cited about how many job opportunities exist versus graduates who need work: so I guess we should just send the non traditional students away and shut down the for-profits, and make sure the elitist status quo is happily restored? Are we actually suggesting that LESS people should go to school in this country? If Don's view is correct that people shouldn't go to school just to make money, then why discourage people from getting an education. Also, I don't recall my state school evaluating my ability to repay loans before enrolling me. All that mattered was my gpa transferring from community college. I am not trying to discredit anything the article mentions, but as someone with personal experience in all these areas I felt it was important to present a few more dimensions. I have yet to hear anything bad from academic advisors at these schools - as advisors, we were much more intimately involved with these students, and saw them through graduation. I don't think we should base our views on the success of many graduates upon the grumblings of sales people who got laid off, thereby reducing the chance for these people to have their degrees accepted/respected.
— May 17, 2010 10:30 a.m.

San Diego’s newest corporate darling, Bridgepoint Education

As a UC Berkeley graduate with many friends who graduated from other UCs and state schools, I can attest that you can slack off and get by at any undergraduate school. You don't even have attend all your classes, as long as you show up on time to turn in your work. It probably depends a lot on the degree you are pursuing. As someone who defaulted on my undergraduate loan (later rehabilitated) as a result of major financial difficulities, I don't see how the default rate for student debt is a reflection of the quality of education, as these articles seem to convey. To the person that said the "poor and the ignorant" are the only ones enrolling, well, that is just false, and obnoxious too. I'm sure all the graduates appreciate your biased remark. Plus, are only the rich allowed to go to school? Are people taking loans in a traditional school ignorant too? At one point, I worked for a for-profit as an academic advisor, NOT admissions advisor. The articles all focus on the high pressure sales of enrolling students (something that also goes on at public univerisities). But no one talks about the rest of the student experience. It certainly was NOT a diploma mill. So what if there are complaints? Is there an industry about which people who did not succeed do not complain? I can tell you a hundred stories from four happy years of employment as an academic advisor which are inspiring and have happy endings. I personally advised students from the time they enrolled through graduation, and saw people with jobs and children cry as they walked across the stage and had their families there to show their support and pride. There was no alternative avenue for these people.
— May 17, 2010 10:30 a.m.