Authors: Dillon Orr, Marketne Noel, Prince Gyamfi, John Vivan, PhD., Ebrahim Tarshizi, PhD.
Summary
On September 25th, 2019, the US Department of Education announced that the national cohort default rate from the 2016 fiscal year decreased to 10.1% from 10.8% in 2015. (US Department of Education, 2019) A decrease in cohort default rate was seen for public, private, and proprietary institutions. However, the smallest decrease in default rate was seen in proprietary (private, for-profit) institutions. Out of 15 schools that were sanctioned by the US Department of Education due to having a cohort default rate higher than 30%, 13 were proprietary colleges.
Due to their predatory student recruitment practices, we propose that proprietary colleges are located more frequently in US Counties that have higher minority (non-white) populations.
We also propose that there exists a higher default rate in proprietary colleges that are located these counties, compared to their public and private non-profit counterparts.
Data Sources:
Official Cohort Default Rates for Schools (2019)
Census Race Data (2010)