Of Why Do You Think They Are Called For-Profit Colleges By Kevin Carey

In general, for-profit schools cost more to attend, because they are run like businesses. And it definitely does not take a college degree to see that these high prices plus low income students equal greater risk of default. For-profit colleges began as family owned trade schools but over the years they have expanded into educational businesses that accept any student, regardless of their financial wellbeing or aptitude. On the other hand, traditional schools have neglected to notice the rising need for an education that is flexible and convenient. In his article “Why Do You Think They’re Called For-Profit Colleges,” Kevin Carey writes to an educated audience of higher education students and faculty to convince them the pros and cons of both

For example, Clifford isolates his important claims either in their own paragraph or towards the end of other paragraphs. This effectively draws the reader’s attention towards what Carey wants them to know. When discussing Michael Clifford, Carey briefly mentions him and then in a separate paragraph writes that he has “been snapping up dying nonprofit colleges and quickly turning them into money-making machines. By isolating this claim, Carey focuses the reader on what he wanted to say. He specifically calls the colleges “money making-machines” as well, to show his stance one the subject. Through Carey’s tactical use of organization and word choice, he is able to suggest his ideas to the audience without directly telling them. Carey’s audience is highly educated and he writes in such a way as to make them feel like they came to their own conclusion that is in congruence with his. Additionally, towards the end of his article Carey mentions some important ideas about accreditation and college legitimacy. After he transitions from discussing for-profit colleges, he writes that “traditional institutions have long resisted subjecting themselves to any objective measures of academic quality” (Carey). Again, Carey mentions this important claim at the end of a paragraph. While the claim itself is important, by mentioning towards the end of a paragraph he not only creates a nice

Carey strategically chooses each word to build his article. For instance, he writes that “horror stories of aggressive recruiters’ inducing students to take out huge loans for nearly worthless degrees are filling the news” (Carey). In this statement, Carey carefully chose each word so that they support his claims. He compares the “huge loans” from “aggressive recruiters” to “nearly worthless degrees” to show the imbalances that for profits have. By using words with negative connotation, the reader knows where Carey stands and can easily deduce the negatives of for-profit higher education, just as Carey wants. Also, Carey uses a sarcastic tone throughout his article. This shows to the audience that he is almost mocking the for-profits and that he does not believe what the for-profits are doing is right, but also that the traditional schools are in the wrong as well. Next, he uses a few rhetorical questions to get the reader thinking. For example, when Carey is mentioning the benefits that for-profits have he says “who was more focused on public interest?” (Carey). Though this statement Carey is able to show the benefits of for-profits education while also showing how the traditional schools fell short. More importantly, rhetorical questions make the reader think. Because Carey has an audience of educated and professional individuals, he knows they can freely think. By allowing his audience to mull