Higher-education companies have seen a mixed bag of spending sprees and lawsuits in the past several weeks, as well as the first public offering in nearly five years.
Apollo Group, the company that built the University of Phoenix into the largest university in the United States by catering to working adults, is now moving to serve younger college students.
Finances continued to wilt at public and private colleges during the past year as income streams slowed and budget managers turned up the heat. Yet for-profit institutions -- both publicly traded and privately held -- posted record gains. Revenues of the top 10 publicly traded higher-education companies grew in excess of 30 percent.
A major for-profit distance-education company has signed a licensing deal with the Acacia Research Corporation, which claims to own patents that cover all online audio- and video-streaming technologies. Officials at Acacia would not disclose the terms of the deal, but noted that institutions on average would pay $5,000 a year.
Officials of South University, a proprietary-college system based in Savannah, Ga., took a calculated risk five years ago. At a time when nursing programs at many traditional colleges were struggling to attract students, South figured that it could profitably enter the field of nursing education.
The campus of Mewar University, one of 108 private universities established in the underdeveloped state of Chhattisgarh during the past two years, is a two-room house on a busy thoroughfare. One room is empty, except for a telephone; the other -- also a tiny, empty cell -- has "library" painted on the door. There is not a teacher, student, or book in sight.
A class-action lawsuit filed against ITT Educational Services last month accuses the company of issuing "materially false and misleading" quarterly reports that defrauded investors.
Universities and colleges are busy enrolling new students but for many non-public higher education institutions, this time of year has become a scramble for money.
The owner of a private Japanese university was arrested this month and charged with making off with millions of dollars in government subsidies while his institution ran up such huge debts that it was reportedly close to shutting down.
The growth of Singapore's private education may face interruption as complaints have increased over the past few years. For instance, a private higher education institution has been sued for misleading advertisement of a program and breaking promises to students, and even a widely-recognized private institute has been castigated. A fear is that improper behavior undermines Singapore's aspirations to be an international education hub.
South Korea's ministry of education has ordered three private institutions to turn over $15.3-million and dismiss 68 professors and officials due to bribery, and mishandling of funds. The ministry has withheld approval for one board of trustees and replaced another's.
The Union HRD Ministry convened a meeting of all state ministers for higher education to discuss the enactment of a Central legislation to control self-financing institutes like private engineering colleges.
A delegation of private sector universities in the NWFP has asked the governor to help extend the deadline set by the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Islamabad, to meet the minimum criteria for granting charter, say officials.
The fast-growing movement to unionize graduate students at the nation's private universities suffered a crushing setback yesterday when the National Labor Relations Board reversed itself and ruled that students who worked as research and teaching assistants did not have the right to unionize.
Washington legislators have taken the first step toward creating a voucher system in higher education with new rules that let state-funded enrollments go to private colleges.
The earnings of many top university presidents are spiraling up toward $1 million a year, according to an annual survey by The Chronicle of Higher Education, rising far more quickly than faculty salaries.
Angry nurses have attacked the Federal Government after a private university was yesterday promised a cash handout only months after Sydney University's nursing faculty was told it would be axed.
In the next two months, young Australians will experience the joy and heartache accompanying the arrival of year 12 results and, for those who make it, the decisions about tertiary courses. For those who succeed in qualifying for a university place, there should be a reasonable expectation that in a country that aspires to have a knowledge economy, such a place will be available. Yet the reality is vastly different. Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee figures show that this year up to 7000 eligible Victorian students, and 24,300 nationally, missed out.
The College Board's annual report on tuition trends over the last 10 years was enough to give the parents of a future college student palpitations. What could be more upsetting than learning that tuition has nearly doubled in the past decade at four-year public institutions, and risen 42 percent at private colleges and universities?
S. Auer, P. Burek, and T. Grawe. Proceedings of 4th International Conference on Knowledge Management (I-KNOW '04), Journal of Universal Computer Science (J.UCS), (2004)
S. Auer, P. Burek, and T. Grawe. Proceedings of 4th International Conference on Knowledge Management (I-KNOW '04), Journal of Universal Computer Science (J.UCS), (2004)