Lawmakers in Washington, D.C., are considering a bill that would require nonprofit universities like UNC to consider accepting transfer credit from for-profit educational institutions.
UNC does not accept credit from for-profit schools, and Congress shouldn't force it and other universities to do so. Plainly put, for-profit schools do not stack up to nonprofit institutions.
There is something fundamentally flawed with an institution that claims to educate - but only in exchange for a little something to take to the bank.
Though nonprofit colleges charge for their services, it is not to raise a profit. But for entities like the University of Phoenix and Kaplan Inc., money - not higher ideals of spreading knowledge - is the motivator.
Case in point: The University of Phoenix pressured recruiters to admit unqualified students to boost enrollment, The Associated Press reported this month. The government fined the school almost $10 million for trying to increase its profit margin in such a manner.
Businesses do not have any business offering degrees. Relatively few of them are regionally accredited compared to nonprofit schools, and many students in for-profit programs likely are unaware of the difficulty of transferring credit to more traditional colleges and universities.
However, for-profit institutions can provide beneficial services, including training seminars and one-time courses that have intrinsic value. For example, a computer programmer might need to learn the newest language and would have no interest in working toward a degree.
For Congress to think about forcing universities with strong academic reputations to consider accepting credit from a business is wrong.
It would be disturbing for the federal government to interfere in the affairs of colleges and universities to such an extent.
