Better choices in higher education

ANALYSIS/OPINION:

Does anyone out there think higher education doesn’t cost enough? Or that there are plenty of ideological points of view for students to choose from?

I didn’t think so. Which is one reason that the Obama administration’s hostility toward for-profit colleges was so unfortunate. Policies that limit the ability for new institutions to enter the higher-education market can only exacerbate its high price and lack of intellectual diversity.

So why isn’t the Trump administration making greater efforts to change this? The Department of Education, after all, recently moved forward with the Obama administration’s decision to terminate recognition for the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS). This was startling news to the 245 colleges that ACICS oversees, most of which are for-profit schools.

Heavy regulations on higher education is bad policy in general, but no one should be singled out. Regulations should at least be sector-neutral in their application. Regulations place an undue burden on for-profit institutions that limit their ability to grow and improve.