One fast-growing American industry has become a conspicuous beneficiary of the recession: for-profit colleges and trade schools.<\/p>\n
At institutions that train students for careers in areas like health care, computers and food service, enrollments are soaring as people anxious about weak job prospects borrow aggressively to pay tuition that can exceed $30,000 a year.<\/p>\n
But the profits have come at substantial taxpayer expense while often delivering dubious benefits to students, according to academics and advocates for greater oversight of financial aid. Critics say many schools exaggerate the value of their degree programs, selling young people on dreams of middle-class wages while setting them up for default on untenable debts, low-wage work and a struggle to avoid poverty. And the schools are harvesting growing federal student aid dollars, including Pell grants awarded to low-income students.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf these programs keep growing, you\u2019re going to wind up with more and more students who are graduating and can\u2019t find meaningful employment,\u201d\u009d said Rafael I. Pardo, a professor at Seattle University School of Law and an expert on educational finance. \u201cThey can\u2019t generate income needed to pay back their loans, and they\u2019re going to end up in financial distress.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n