Recent Publications

In Service to America:
Celebrating 165 Years of Career and Professional Education

The Imagine America Foundation's In Service to America: Celebrating 165 Years of Career and Professional Education tells the history of the growth of the career college sector in the United States from 1841 to the present, as reflected through the development of its representative associations.

Sponsored by the McGraw-Hill Companies Career College Division, In Service to America contains over 200 photos and other materials contributed from the archives of career colleges nationwide, the Imagine America Foundation and the Career College Association. While principally a story about the dynamic internal evolution of the associations, this book also reveals the phenomenal history of tenacious institutions that have grown dramatically and continue to provide necessary educational services to our nation and its economy.

In Service to America is available for purchase through the Imagine America Foundation for only $34.95. To place your order, contact Foundation staff member Jenny Faubert at 202.336.6743 or jennyf@imagine-america.org.

Economic Impact of America’s Career Colleges

The Imagine America Foundation’s Economic Impact of Career Colleges is the first comprehensive study completed of the economic impact of the career college sector. This study estimates that career colleges generate $38.6 billion in annual economic impact. This total includes $14.6 billion in direct institutional impact, $4 billion in related student fees and expenses, $3.5 billion in higher career college graduate starting salaries and other benefits, and $16.5 billion in indirect economic activity associated with the industries in which the graduates are employed.

Notable findings in the study are the following:

Direct Impact
In educating students (37 percent of whom are minorities) for high demand jobs, the career college sector generates significant economic activity as a result.

• A total of 2,694 career colleges (for-profit, Title-IV eligible institutions) in the 2004-2005 academic year produced $14.6 billion in total revenue. Institutions spent nearly $8 billion on compensation of employees and $5.6 billion for goods and services, including real estate, administrative and support services, construction and other needs;
• During 2005, career colleges employed 137,041 full-time equivalent faculty and staff;
• While the federal and state subsidy to not-for-profit institutions of higher learning is approximately $22,000 per student, students at career colleges receive approximately $6,500 in student assistance.

Career colleges include for-profit postsecondary schools, colleges and universities that offer market-driven, career-specific training in over 200 fields. They differ from most public and non-profit postsecondary institutions in their emphasis on providing students with skills most in demand by employers. Career college students are predominantly working adults. Almost 50% are the first generation in their families to pursue higher education.

To obtain your free copy of this study, click here.