Benchmarking in private career schools: A preliminary empirical investigation in the establishment of quantitative strategic indicators in this specialized postsecondary education sector
The Union Institute, PhD Thesis, (1998)Abstract
Private Career Schools represent a significant segment of the American higher education system. Increased reliance on Private Career Colleges and schools is due, in part, to the staggering costs of education, industry's global recruitment efforts to find technically qualified talent, and a move away from traditional baccalaureate education. Recent trends in the industry include the growth of the University of Phoenix into one of the nation's largest and most visible universities; this has begun to focus greater attention on the Private Career College sector. This study examines the Private Career College as a segment of higher education, its characteristics and factors that contribute to its success. This study will provide an analysis of certain operations of private career institutions and determine preliminary benchmarks for successful institutions. Ten Private Career School leaders, with an average tenure of thirty years in the field, participated in lengthy interviews on Private Career School operations. These interviews provided an in-depth background into the recent history of the sector and an understanding of Private Career Colleges' management and operations. Eighty-nine institutions participated in this research by completing a survey used to evaluate school operations. The colleges surveyed represent a broad spectrum of Private Career Colleges and schools in this country. These institutions graduate students with credentials ranging from certificate to doctorate programs. The institutions are accredited by a variety of different accrediting agencies, regional, national and programmatic. These institutions educate diverse student bodies in dissimilar facilities, from single building schools of less than fifty students, to large multi campuses with over ten thousand students. Analysis found that although the sample of private career institutions is extremely diverse, most of the basic operational assumptions and processes are remarkably similar. Private Career School operations, from large international non profit institutions like Johnson and Wales, to smaller single focus institutions like the Florida College of Natural Health, use essentially like operational benchmarks in critical management areas such as admissions, student services, fiscal operations and organization and structure. These benchmarks, although adjusted for scale, seem to indicate that institutions operating within these benchmarks will be effective and grow.