Proprietary or For-Profit Colleges and Universities

In the United States, the postsecondary educational landscape has been dominated historically by the existence of nonprofit public and private degree-granting colleges and universities. Over the past two decades, however, for-profit or proprietary colleges and universities have emerged as one of the fastest growing sectors of postsecondary institutions in U.S. higher education, with student enrollments continuing to grow at a rapid pace of nearly 10% a year. This entry examines possible legal issues that may arise in connection with proprietary or for-profit institutions of higher education in the United States.