This episode of "Frontline" is about a really interesting phenomenon--the burgeoning for profit colleges that have been springing up across America. The first portion consists of the film crew following a billionaire (who, ironically, never went to college) who has made his fortune buying colleges and making them profitable. The guy is pretty upfront about his business and you see him going about his business. Later, however, the difficulties with SOME of these colleges are explored. Too many seem to have no interest whether or not those who enroll can do the work and many are straddled with debts that will follow them the rest of their lives. And, some offer degrees that are worthless--such as psychology graduate programs that are NOT APA accredited. These are by far the most important parts of the film BUT I also felt it could have been a bit more informative. For instance, how is a BAD for-profit school different from one that is a GOOD one? After all, for the consumer, it's all rather hard to know what makes a good and bad for-profit school. Which ones could care less and sell the customer false promise? Some things that were not included was a discussion of trade-based for profit schools (some of the worst when it comes to actually graduating its students). Another is the proliferation of schools offering criminology, law enforcement and forensic degrees that are NOT what law enforcement jobs require or are looking for in new hires. So, while it was a very good program, it is not the best for a consumer--much more information is needed.
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