US policymakers should not overlook the positive aspects of for-profit colleges, a study has argued.

The report from the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, a right- leaning thinktank based in New York, says that politicians - and journalists - are too quick to highlight for-profits¡¯ poor graduation levels, higher loan default rates and patchy graduate employment record, while overlooking their strengths.

¡°Because for-profit colleges are not bound to the often-inflexible agendas of tenured faculty, alumni, or trustees, they can more easily adapt course offerings to current labor demand,¡± the report argues.

It says that while Hispanics and African-Americans respectively constitute 11.5 and 13 per cent of all students in public higher education, this increases to 15 and 22 per cent in the for-profit sector. Some 65 per cent of for-profit students are aged 25 and older compared with much smaller percentages at public colleges, The Unacknowledged Value of For-Profit Education adds.

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¡°For-profits serve these students well because students can enroll in as many courses as their other commitments will allow,¡± it adds. ¡°For-profits¡­do not offer liberal-arts programs but rather teach technical skills for specific fields - and thus can quickly train students whose time is more limited.¡±

The thinktank is calling on the federal government to ¡°preserve the good aspects of for-profit colleges while minimizing the bad ones¡±.

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¡°Policymakers should change the federal student-loan program so that substandard institutions are hard-pressed to stay in business. To ensure that its investment in higher education is worthwhile, the government should apply any such regulation to all sectors of the¡­industry, be it for-profit, nonprofit, public, or private,¡± the report concludes.

It adds that the ultimate goal should be an approach that ¡°treats for profit and nonprofit colleges identically¡± to ensure that all higher education consumers are more cautious about their investments.

¡°That would make it easier for students to choose the programs that best suit their circumstances and that provide the skills that they need to prosper,¡± it says.

chris.parr@tsleducation.com