Arthur Keiser
April 11, 2022
While the U.S. Department of Education was conducting a recently completed rulemaking process regarding for-profit colleges and universities, a small cohort of activists were lobbying Congress and the department to make it more difficult for these schools to make the transition to nonprofit status. The critics assert that these transitions are a disaster waiting to happen. The facts say otherwise.
In a world where talent is the currency driving our economy, most employers aren’t asking graduates about the tax status of their alma maters. Yet, while those opposing such transitions seem to focus solely on a university’s tax status, the beneficiaries of these changes – graduates, employers, entrepreneurs, and community members – argue that these conversions only broaden and strengthen America’s system of higher education.
The track record of these schools clearly demonstrates that business conversions to nonprofit entities have helped the institutions in fulfilling their missions, while expanding and enhancing the valuable services they provide to their students and communities. Colleges and universities have made these transitions for a long time as a part of their natural evolution to further their missions.
