The growth of for-profit higher education - Implications for teacher education

The article examines the recent growth off or-profit higher education in th e United States with a special emphasis on teacher education. Recent increa sed interest in for-profit education accompanied by the availability of ven ture capital has focused discussion and debate on this growing segment of A merican education. Supporters off or-profit education point to the benefits that accrue from competition in a free market scenario, most importantly, the improvement of education and potential reduction in costs. Educators ar gue that public schools and universities play a critical role in a democrat ic society by providing education for citizenship and access to opportunity -functions rarely addressed by for-profit firms. At the higher education le vel,for-profit universities are beginning to offer teacher education progra ms specifically designed to meet state requirements only. The article concl udes with a discussion of the implications of these developments for tradit ional colleges and universities.