In Lower Ed: The Troubling Rise of For-Profit Colleges in the New Economy, Tressie McMillan Cottom is at her very best--rigorous, incisive, empathetic, and witty. Lower Ed is a definitive accounting of the for-profit college phenomenon, who benefits from such schools and who is preyed upon. McMillan ...more
A fascinating and sobering examination of the for-profit college phenomenon in the United States. As someone who has a good amount of economic privilege, I always tuned out commercials and advertisements for for-profit colleges. I did not think in any deep way about what their presence meant about o ...more
This was amazing, I just took a peek and could not stop reading, I was basically nailed to the book. It's based on the author's own ethnographic and sociological research; also ownvoices in multiple aspects. I can already see it on my 2017 best nonfiction reads list (eek I still need to post the 201 ...more
Cottom’s excellent new book is about for-profit colleges and credentialing, but it’s really about the collapse of the safety net and the dumping of risk on individuals. It’s also about really effective marketing techniques.
For-profit colleges became more attractive as the labor market became more un ...more
Tressie explains the post secondary education system, identifying the inequalities and the Financialized 'For Profit' colleges. Sadly our education system has been turned into a money making machine and we have become financially trapped in the qualifications game, employment and success built upon d ...more
It didn't take me many pages to assume this is Cottom's doctoral dissertation research revised into a book. After a little research, it was easily confirmed. Not necessarily a bad thing, but be warned - it reads like a dissertation.
Cottom worked for 2 different for-profit college companies, one foc ...more
Just as good as everyone says it is. What really stood out to me was how Tressie frames the discussion of for-profits not as an educational conversation (where it tends to reside), but as a broader result of the way work and employment are changing. As someone who spends a lot of time thinking about ...more
"As it turns out, there is such a thing as "bad" education. It is an educational option that, by design, cannot increase students' odds of beating the circumstances of their birth."
I can't say that anything in Tressie McMillan Cottom's book wholly caught me by surprise. Knowing what we know about th ...more
A clear book about a complicated subject. Sometimes dense and academic, but always with a strong voice. Frames the financialization of post-secondary eductation as similar to mortgage financialization (and other efforts to move from government supported services to a government supported predatory m ...more
This book was a little too academic for my tastes. The author spent a lot of time repeating what she had covered earlier in the book. I was more interested in hearing about the ppl she talked to, than about credential theory or whatever. There's nothing really new here if you've seen the Frontline o ...more
As I was sorting this book onto virtual GoodReads shelves, I thought to myself "I should really rename my social-justice-social-issues shelf books-about-the-world-that-make-me-angry." This book does make me angry, because Tressie McMillan Cottom does such an extraordinary job of exploring and explai ...more
An absolutely fascinating study of the growth of for-profit colleges in the United States. Tressie McMillian Cottom does an excellent job of educating her readers on not just the educational aspect of these institutions, but also the changes in employment and social safety nets that have led us here ...more
Tressie McMillan Cottom has written an excellent sociological account of for-profit colleges that should get massive credit not only for its conclusions, which encompass a more rigorous investigation of the subject than one might expect, but also because it avoid ...more
Must read for anyone interested in education in our nation! A gripping and intricate story of greed, betrayal, and larceny against students, brought to life by Tressie McMillan Cottom with precision and clarity. ...more
All hail Tressie McMillan Cottom! She has done a tremendous amount of research to expose for-profit colleges for their predatory practices to enroll already struggling people of color into their schools. She uncovers how their marketing and recruiting schemes prey on students fears and insecurities ...more
I got along with this much better than THICK, I'm happy to say -- this was truly a thick sociological survey of the complexities around who for-profit institutions serve, how that market arose, and the intricacies of why students are looking for the credentialing services that those institutions pro ...more
I work in higher ed and have always wondered how for-profit schools survived. They're more expensive, they aren't accredited---why would anyone pick them? This book does an excellent job of answering that question. One you read the book you not only understand but you see how they are successful. Th ...more
I always appreciate a good sociological take on socioeconomic issues and Lower Ed does not disappoint. Cottom sheds light on what most of us college graduates and academics don’t ever have to consider, specifically the circumstances that lead one to decide to attend a for-profit college that go beyo ...more
I loved how the author put the focus on the labor market that has caused the need for for-profit college instead of putting the blame on the colleges. Of course they deserve to be accountable for what they are doing, but also, we need to create a better society where employers take on more risk & re ...more