I hold a PhD in mathematics from a traditional research university; I taught at Devry University for a few years, but quit after witnessing their high pressures recruitment of students who clearly lacked the basic skills that are required to be successful as students. Essentially, the only entrance requirement is a pulse ...

He really asked "What makes education so special?" That right there said it all.

I am a child of Asian immigrants who made it to the middle class. Because I’m not “poor” I didn’t get any financial aid but qualified for loans. I went to a public college for four years and have now acquired $100k of student debt. The first job I could get out of college only paid me $36k a year and my student loan payments were $1100 a month. Companies these days don’t want to hire anybody without a degree but still want to pay you like you didn’t earn one. That’s what’s messed up… it’s all messed up.

They should do a doc next on the millions of Americans who got worthless degrees from "reputable" universities and are now in massive debt. Our entire higher education system is a scam.

As someone that worked for one of the four federal student loan servicers, I really hope this goes into detail about the complete back scratching between the schools and the Govt. Its a complete sham

Thank you student loans for helping me get through college. I don't think I can ever repay you.

I remember when this first aired on PBS. My heart goes out to those students who got stuck in mountains of debt and hope they eventually found fulfilling careers.

This happened to my mother. She went back to school to get her Real Estate license, graduated, and even got hired on to a job with a reputable Real Estate Agency, but during the hiring process, they found that the school she attended wasn't accredited, and rescinded the offer. She had already had her picture published in the paper as an up and coming Agent and all. Poor woman.

This video needs to be sent to all high school counselors so they can warn all their students about these for profit colleges.

I remember this came out when I entered community college. Everest College and University of Phoenix were aggressively trying to recruit students through cold calls and the classifieds. I am so grateful that I only had interest in attending public local colleges. This was the way to graduate without debt. Now, 20+ years later, students can earn a degree online from a reputable public college.

My son is 14, straight-A student, noted that he is surrounded by adults who spent many tens of thousands of dollars for degrees we don’t use, and asked me how I felt about his going to community college. I told him I support him 100%. There’s no guarantee that fancy degree will land you a fancy job; maybe a 50/50 shot, at best. It doesn’t matter what the degree is in, either, before the “just be smart picking your major 🙃” crowd shows up. If someone’s taking out the equivalent of a mortgage in debt, the odds of it working out had better be north of 95%, and they just aren’t. Get a two-year degree and see what jobs you can land. That’s the best advice. 👍

I work with LA County Sheriff’s deputies. They now have to have a bachelor’s degree in order to be promoted to sergeant. Some of them enroll in on-line university programs and their spouses do the coursework and take the exams.

Make no mistake about it, Clifford’s “passion” isn’t education, it’s making money and it sounds like it’s coming from us, the taxpayers.

Worked at a for profit tech school as an IT personnel, I can honestly tell you that even teachers and faculty all jokingly called it "Grade 13". Not somewhere Id drop my money and expect employers to take me seriously.

How can a 17-18 year old kid find a loan for school, but can’t find a personal or business loan? 🤔

31:22 - 31:39 My jaw dropped listening to this. He doesn't seem to realize just how evil it is to manipulate the most vulnerable and desperate people in society into pursuing expensive endeavors that they don't need. People who are recovering from addiction, ex-gang members, prostitutes, etc. need to get a trade (mechanic, EMT, construction, etc.) so that they can get a job immediately to take care of themselves.

He was not looking for another opportunity. He was looking for another victim

When someone pressures you to buy something, ask yourself what the urgency is. Simply because there has to be something in it for them. It's hysterical how the lobbyist for the for-profit college machine can't stop blinking!

This is so sad. I have a niece who went to Heald finished and graduated with thousands of dollars in loans. She didn’t get a decent job and had to go to junior college. Those loans from heals has effected her financial aid. That education was worthless, it couldn’t be transferred to the local junior college. Don’t go to these schools. Just attend your local junior or state college. My niece has since graduated junior college and transferred to a state college. But heald had her take out so much in student loans it’s effecting her Financial aid at the state college. It’s really sad something needs to be done.

The fact that students in US have to take massive loans just to get good knowledge is sickening and disgusting

Once again, moral of the story is: Don't go to private, for-profit schools.

Good old USA how this is even legal is beyond me. Absolutely disgusting

I hope they do a story on public universities. Overly lavish facilities and administrative bloat paid for by sky high tuition, crony text book rip-offs, and parking fees. I'd rather have affordable classes in a barn. However, I'm an old fart and am not the demographic they target.

The interviewer asking the right questions is excellent

As someone who has attended a for profit college, an ROP/CTE program through an adult school, and traditional public schools/community college, I can tell you that the public school is much better quality. I felt like people in charge of my program at the for-profit didn’t know what they were doing running a program and it showed that they only knew how to run a business. It showed. The turnover of instructors was ridiculous. In the public schools I saw that they were held to a standard and would face significant consequences for not meeting expectations for the state.

I took the military route used my GI Bill with zero student loans, school got paid upon starting a new semester went to junior colleges and state university for my BA. Advised other vets to stay away from these schools that this documentary showing that their degrees are too risky and may not guarantee a viable employment option

My community college cost $1000 tuition for my associates degree. You can get into welding, construction, water treatment, mechanics, nursing and biotechnology at a California community college. Today tuition is around $4000.

I have friend that fell into this trap. She was lured into the hopes of a better career, by a sleazy sales person at a for profit school. Because of her work load, the need to balance family, and her inability to understand her post college prospects, she had to drop out. Now she is $80,000 in debt, and has her wages garnered, in order to pay her debts. She now has a minimum wage job, and she will never pay back her debts. With all of this, she still thinks that it’s 100% her fault. She fails to see the systemic exploitation, that took advantage of her. This is also common in the economy at large. Many people believe that it’s 100% their fault when they fail to thrive in the greater economy. There are many factors in success and failure when it comes to the economy as a whole. Since the American culture values self determination, and failure is often seen as personal, rather than a societal failure at large.

This was filmed in 2010. Let’s get an update for 2022! My feelings are it’s probably not much better

How are they not in violation of predatory lending practices?

When i see this, i'm so glad to live in Europe, where education and healthcare is not something that depends on your wealth.

Damn, I finished college and paid my tuition without taking out a loan; I am grateful that I was able to finish without debt, but I took a year off after highschool and another after community college to work and save up a little and still got some help here and there by paying little to no rent. Paying for college is no laughing matter. I graduated at the age of 25. I would have graduated sooner, but with more debt. I hope the best for anyone trying to make it through college without amassing a lot of debt, it's hard but it teaches you a lot about yourself and builds character.

I have a Master’s & don’t get paid nearly enough to make up for the price of the degree I’m still paying back. Students, only obtain a degree that will yield a great salary, go to a trade school or pursue a certification.

If a degree is not accredited directly through higher education, then it's worthless.

I really hope Frontline does a follow up to this. 12 years later and student borrowers have organized, lots of these schools have failed some are still publicly traded. There are several lawsuits against the DOE at the moment over predatory student loans. I am involved with a few.

I went to school for my LPN/LVN at a public school in the ghetto because it was free and part time worked with my schedule. Became a nurse fhen bridged over to RN 1 year later for free as well at a public school and my BSN online. Never understood why people would put themselves in debt for a job. Just not worth it.

Having attended both Everest College and the University of Phoenix, I am drowning in debt and find my education (such as it is) worthless and am unable to transfer any of my earned credits because my school wasn't accredited and the credits worthless. I was unable to finish my degree because I could never get enough financial aid despite only working part time and having an income of less than $30,000/year.

The need to make an honest living has become a financial trap

I’ve graduated from Grand Canyon university. My sister told me yesterday that GCU is a Accreditation Status: Candidacy, meaning it’s not a accreditation college. Candidacy means that it’s not a accredited institution remember we are just talking about the program it’s self not the school this is what my sister texted me yesterday, because I wanted to attend a college for my masters degree in New York. My sister is also at GCU as wel. And I’m extremely anxious that my credits aren’t going to transfer to a college I want to attend to for my masters degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.

I would love to have Frontline look into private universities that are non-profit yet charge enormous prices for tuition. For example, schools in Chicago that provide doctorates that are private non-profits will charge over 50,000 a year in education.

This is why it gets me so angry when people say that student loan forgiveness would only help the privileged middle class that doesn't need it. The people hardest hit by student loans are these poor people preyed upon by for-profit colleges in the hopes they might be able to learn a marketable job skill.

Based on what i am seeing in the job market, a college degree does not seem to matter as much to employers as it did when i graduated college in 2004. I think this shift in thinking about college degrees will continue to slide that direction

This is part of a more growing issue in the U.S. -> corporate power. Corporations control the government through lobbying, writing the very bills these politicians take their local and federal houses. In terms of student loans - the federal government can very much, and without a lot of difficulty, erase student loans. Nearly every single study and research case not only backs this up, but also advocates for erasing student due to the positive effects it would have on the growth and welfare of the country as a whole. It's such a uniquely American problem - radical capitalism. It's called debt servitude or bondage labor. Similar to serfdoms in the middle ages. Student debt is the easiest for universities and the government to capture, and the hardest, most difficult debt to be rid of. All of this is tied to an increasingly unregulated system of education, corporatism, low wages and punishing working schedules for employees without any benefits, increasing inflation in goods, services, and housing, and a growing attitude of apathy from politicians because they're paid off and/or invested in the very corporations handling student teaching and student debt. Stephen King would have struggled to write such a sinister and evil story line! Want to solve the problem? It's called accountability. Sprinkle in some socialism as college is a benefit to all of society and advances a people forward into the future.

I’m so glad that I could see thru the college scam as a young high school student. I knew several people who went to college just because they had been told to go their whole life, and got worthless pieces of paper that they ended up not using, yet we’re still responsible for paying back hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. College is fine if you’re going for a specific field, such as being a Doctor, or something similar, but I think trade school is the way to go, and it’s what I did. I know so many people with degrees they’ve never used, and tons of debt for nothing.

Education is a noble cause and a profession but regrettably it got corrupted by corporate greed and tactics.😐😐😐

I am a high school teacher and I discourage any student to stay away from any for profit schools. They are extremely expensive and in the end, you learn nothing. I know of these schools recruiting people from off the streets(homeless drug addicts) to attend their schools. They are only interested on the money that they will be getting form the gov't. They are nothing but a waste of time and money. It's pretty much purchasing a diploma. Most businesses don't take these schools seriously. And the loans that you end up paying is not worth it. It's disgusting. They are primarily situated in low income neighborhoods.

I've been touring college campuses with my oldest daughter and they certainly not hurting for money. I'm seeing lots of new stadiums, student unions, libraries and college run coffee shops in every building. It was a lot more Spartan when I went to school 20 years ago and tuition was a fraction what it is now.

The problem with a lot of higher Ed institutions (for-profit & not-for-profit) is many are not really addressing real market demands. As a result, they have to aggressively market their services with lies and falsehoods. If you couldn't sell cough syrup, imagine telling everyone your cough syrup would make them successful, then hiring drivers to bring it to their homes, hiring marketing teams and sales people and raising your prices to account for all your new costs and aggressively pursuing those who qualified for gov't aid. Then, as millions of people became trapped in debt for purchasing your cough syrup, calling this the American dream.

PBS Frontline never disappoints. Good job as usual!

A subsequent Frontline documentary (A Subprime Education in 2016) covered the eventual collapse of the college scams. And recently - on June 1st - the Dept. of Education forgave nearly 6 billion in student loans from the Corinthian College chain of for-profit bogus schools. I would say something snarky about born-again religious people like the fellow featured here, but it had nothing to do with religion at all. Just soulless greed. And some, like Grand Canyon, may well be legitimate. Good job, Frontline, for sticking with this one!

I spent to better part of 10 years in a California State Prison. During that time I wrote every CC, CSU & UC in California, I found a program at San Francisco State called Project Rebound. When I was released I attended classes there and earned my Bachelors. I now have a solid career, own my house, and have two cars. During the documentary the for-profit school admin said they exist because people that aren't in the upper class or the upper middle class can't get an education without them. I completely disagree with that assessment. When I was released I only had 200 USD and no job but I was able to get an education without the for-profit industry.

My daughter was persuaded that her master's degree in education from Phoenix U. would garner her teaching positions in the Phoenix public school system. It didn't. And yes, she has student loan debt from that scam. But then again, she did not do her due diligence. My favorite quote about everything American: "Is the F...ing you are getting really worth the F...ing you are getting?" Typically the answer is, "No".

I feel like I see a report from Jonh Oliver and then Frontline posts to say, "yeah we talked about that 12 years ago " lol

wow i feel so bad for those nursing students- as a nurse myself i am astonished they never stepped foot in a hospital as a student. Pediatric rotation was in a daycare! I remember my pediatric rotation was in a peds icu & it was tough!They paid 30,000 for that education! I am not all ‘sue happy’ but they deserve a full refund. That school failed them!

Totally amazing. I am 78, retired and escaped to South America. Because of my career in law, psychology, computer science and accounting, I am addicted to education. Classes are my entertainment. But I take all my online classes through colleges and universities I have actually attended over many years. If I am just entertaining myself, I am not picky. If I am looking for new views on my career areas, I want a college and/or university with a very good reputation. For those still working, your resume is highly considered, when applying for a job at good companies, by the schools you have attended.

Amazing/worrying how, in the 12 years since this aired, the amount of student loan debt has more than doubled.

Frontline is a necessary institution for stimulating thought on controversial issues .

It's not about education, it's about money.

The keyword that’s been emphasized here is “ Getting the student a college loan” and not education

I feel for those students. They all hoped that education could eventually improve their financial situation. They never expected to jump out of the frying pan and end up in the fire.

I've been watching Frontline for decades. In fact, I rely on Frontline when considering candidates during presidential elections and otherwise.

The class/caste system in the US has come to largely overshadow education anyway. Pushing college for everyone is pure salesmanship, but in my case I really was "college material" and I tried my best as everyone urged me to. "You're smart; you should go to college". Sadly, it doesn't matter how smart you are, if you were born on an unfortunate square on the race/class/wealth chessboard in the US, college will not only not make you any richer or more socially mobile, but it will actually make you quite a bit poorer.

That was filmed in 2009/2010 and now in 2023 they have expanded online college courses and is zoom and other platforms for video class rooms.

If at all possible go to community college where the credit hours are cheaper and transfer them to a 4-year university that will accept them all. That’s usually a public college. Be a working student, take fewer classes per semester, go to school year round, and pay as you go. This will lower the amount of money you borrow.

i just left a job of nearly 7 years at a for-profit nursing college. nothing has changed since this was first aired 12 years ago. students are being way overcharged for the quality of these programs. accelerated nursing programs terrify me now; as we move through the pandemic and a nursing crisis (which is basically because we have for-profit health care in addition to for-profit education), we will see fewer nurses adequately prepared for the field, more errors resulting in harm or death, increased turnover. and that doesn't even begin to address the harm done to *students* financially and emotionally. the truth of the matter is that for-profit schools will always be driven by how many students are admitted, retained, graduated, and employed. these were metrics we watched like hawks and i wasn't even in admissions. accreditation just seems pay-to-play; i'd love to see more investigation into that. soooo many problems with for-profit schools. PLEASE avoid them at all costs. there are other ways to get an education and hopefully soon, that education will be free. education should not be about profit.

These are the type of documentaries that I live for😍

"when I buy a perfume for...my mom" said everything there is to say about what kind of person works in this industry.

The litmus test for legitimate college programs have always been the admissions requirements. These schools capitalize on potential students looking to avoid the ACT, SAT, GRE, GMAT, MCAT or LSAT testing/qualifying scores.

I love Frontline it reminds me of the good old days with the music

Went to Grand Canyon University for online MBA. The education is not very good imo

Back in 1995 my husband was injured on the job & went through government vocational rehabilitation who would only approve these junk programs. I went to a couple presentations, DeVry & and some other school, which were high pressure sales that reminded me of time share hustlers. The pricetag was insane. I was a student at OSU at the time in my Junior year & the presenters got furious me because I pointed out with some authority as a student enrolled in a 4 year program . They claimed to be cheaper but they were more than 4 year universities . So they told me that the time they saved students justified the high price. I disagreed .They would passed people based on paying them off and that does not happen , at least for 99% of USA students. That is huge. Do you want a nurse who could pay and may or may not be competent or one who had to compete for a coveted spot in a traditional university. This is not a joke , most of the online schools churn out nursing home nurses which is a travesty that will impact us all if we infirm & old , hospitals & physicians do not hire the graduates of diploma mills. They prey on ignorance & tell the prospective students lies . People literally pay 6x as much t I'll these schools to get a diploma when no one else would pass them.

As an HR manager I can tell you that it rare that any employer cares where you get your degree from. They just want that degree block checked.

I haven’t gotten a second of use out of my degree. Going to college helped me socially more than anything. I spent the majority of my time in high school avoiding people and spending every night alone in my bedroom, or watching Jeopardy with my parents. It wasn’t ideal. I went to college and midway though my first year I started talking to and spending time with tons of people, mostly females. It just snowballed. It was like high school me died. Would I do it again? Probably. I mean, my visual communications degree is close to useless. I’d pick a different major, but I’m thankful for what college did for me socially.

Need to be extremely careful with these colleges. My gf is in a union and they offered free tuition. At first we thought there had to be a catch so we researched and talked to people who went through the program and it was legit. School is accredited but anytime you see or hear free do your diligence.

Way to go Frontline! Once again airing content that is 12 years old.

I always found it a bit difficult to retain or hold my attention to an online class. I found that I learned more on a live classroom.

I'm all for colleges making a profit, but why do they have no risk when the student assumes all the risk with government backed student loans. If they can make all that profit, then they can assume the risk of a loan not being paid back.

The trades are good alternatives to college. I have been doing Electrical for over 20 years and the economy has seen a lot of ups and downs. I have not missed a beat and I have kept my overall debt very low.

This aired in 2010 and they are only posting this article on YT? Forget the PBS app, this has been a growing problem way before this story even began and guess what? We haven't don't much to change it since then. I graduated (2004) with about 24K student debt. I'm only now about 3.4K and it's 2022. It's sickening to think that these universities, colleges and business schools have our best interest at heart. When it's always been about the money and much they can grab from others. Then, except us to pay it back. Now, I'm not saying my debt is others problems. I created it, I'm gonna pay for it but what I am saying is stop making it so fucking expensive!

I have a fear of those who are born again. In my experience they are going to cost me money or try and indoctrinate me. That is a sad state of affairs to those who really wish to spread the gospel.

Thank you Frontline for posting this once again because this is a long awaited documentary towards how these college scam places get people

Everyone with the disposition and aptitude to move on to higher education should have the opportunity. The way it has turned into a big business with all concerns related to profit and not education is shameful. So many deserving students will never get a shot at college simply because it's too expensive.

This PBS episode aired in 2010. Even more relevant today.

Why did DeVry shut down? The U.S. Department of Education is canceling $415 million in federal student loan debt for 16,000 borrowers who were defrauded by their schools. The schools include DeVry University, ITT Technical Institute, Westwood College and Minnesota School of Business/Globe University.Feb 18, 2022

Why is PBS reposting pre pandemic stories. Would love to see some new material.

"BACK on crack?!" Did he really just say that?

I made a mistake and was interested in starting school again and I contacted Grand Canyon because the school appealed to me. I regret it to this day. A rep called me everyday and even left me voice-mails to contact them. My work schedule didn't allow me to focus and successfully attend Grand Canyon and that's why I changed my mind. Whenever I see a call from Arizona I know it's them. 🙄😬

The book "Bad Biz: Your Guide to Starting a For Profit College" by Corin Devaso is an educational satire about this issue.

I still remember ITT Tech commercials

"Hey, give me money!" **shrug** why doesn't it work when I say it?

So the boss of a college doesn’t even have a degree? Well what does that tells you?

that guy rly compared going to college to buying a random perfume for his mother and then asked what makes education so special?

8:50 you can't smack the greedy smile off thus guys face

Pbs and frontline are the best tv on tv

I really wish they would Investigate big universities like Harvard and Stanford That have hundreds of billions of dollars in the bank and yet raise tuition every year. It just seems like they're criticizing a for profit model making millions but ignoring the big colleges that rake in tens of billions. I wonder why?

I have a bachelors degree and work overnight at Walmart. Don’t go to college. Save the trouble. This world doesn’t care how educated you are.

In the Southeastern US, College attendance is quite low ATM. I do building automation work at many of the state schools in my area and they are all low on students. I think people are starting to see through the "you must go to college" mantra. I make more than my wife, she has a degree in finance and works a great job. I make more than most of the people in my area minus the doctors, lawyers, and offshore oil workers. I don't have a college degree and have mostly self taught myself the skills I needed to excel in my career. Went from crawling around in attics installing AC systems to programming automation systems completely without college. It is possible my friends!

Awesome compilation of information and truly enlightening content.

Privatizing the profits, socializing the losses...the American way.

Grand Canyon university used Emminate domain in Phx to expand it's campus which displaced a lot of poor people out of their homes that were paid off