美国营利性高等教育行业现存主要问题的归因分析与因应政策

Attribution Analysis and Legal Policy on the Main Existing Problems of For-Profit Higher Education in the United States

营利性高等教育行业在上世纪90年代的崛起成为美国高等教育后大众化阶段最为显著的变化之一,但是该行业在快速发展的同时也伴随着各种指责和隐患。激进的招生策略、不容乐观的办学质量和居高不下的联邦助学贷款违约率是制约其进一步发展的主要问题。笔者认为,造成这些问题的原因并不能简单归结为美国营利性行业的逐利性,而是美国高等教育认证制度的缺陷、美国州政府监管力度的薄弱、联邦助学贷款政策的漏洞和营利性高等教育行业经营方式存在的不足。奥巴马政府为遏制问题的蔓延,采取提高办学要求、扶持社区学院和完善联邦助学贷款制度等一系列因应政策调整。

The 1990s has witnessed one of the most prominent changes of the post-massification era in American higher education the rising of for-profit higher education. However, many accusations and latent troubles also appear as it develops rapidly. Aggressive enrollment policy, unsatisfied education quality and high default rates of federal student loans are the major problems hindering its development. The author believes that the causes of these problems can not be attributed to the profit pursuing of American for-profit education, but to the defective accreditation system of American higher education, weak regulation of American state government, flawed policies of federal student loans and imperfect operating mode of for-profit higher education. To curb the spreading of this issue, the Obama administration adopts a series of legal policies, including raising the running requirements, supporting community colleges and improving the system of federal student loans.