New Players, Different Game: Understanding the Rise of For-Profit Colleges and Universities

by William G. Tierney, Guilbert C. Hentschke

As the economic value of education increases, as more students seek to complete college courses while forgoing the "undergraduate experience," and as funding for public higher education decreases, the for-profit higher education sector has exploded. In New Players, Different Game , William G. Tierney and Guilbert C. Hentschke compare for-profit and not-for-profit models of higher education to assess the strengths and weaknesses of both. For-profit institutions offer a fundamentally distinct type of postsecondary education. Some critics argue the institutions are so different they should not be accepted as an integral part of the American higher education system. Here, Tierney and Hentschke explore what traditional and nontraditional colleges and universities can learn from each other, comparing how they recruit students, employ faculty, and organize instructional programs. The authors suggest that, rather than continuing their standoff, the two sectors could mutually benefit from examining each other’s culture, practices, and outcomes.

Genres: Education, Nonfiction

232 pages, Hardcover

First published August 15, 2007

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tierney and Hentschke (two education professors at the University of Southern California) provide a detailed and well supported history of for-profit universities. While previous research has been done on the changes to higher-education this book more closely follows for-profit universities and the reasoning behind their development. The authors basic goal was to provide information on for-profit (FPCU) and traditional (TCU) universities and discuss the differences and similarities between them by looking at mission statements, financial details, students, role of faculty, success factors, organization of the university types, and the future of both types. The authors are aware the both scholars and others will be reading their book and so they do an excellent job of providing the background on changes in the educational system so that anyone could read and understand their argument. The authors are cognizant of the need for an objective look at these two forms of higher education. Their goal was to provide a more objective look at the forms because other studies and books usually have a basis towards one of the forms. The authors emphasize that their goal of writing this book was to understand for themselves as well as make it clear for the reader, the rise of for-profit universities.