> Second, the author presented for-profit higher education as a replacement for traditional higher education. So the question is "what would for-profit schools

> Second, the author presented for-profit higher education as a replacement for traditional higher education. So the question is "what would for-profit schools do with university-qualified students?" > But the incentives faced by for-profit colleges seem every bit as broken as those he claimed are faced by traditional colleges. Your description of the incentives and behavior seems very facile. For one, the cost of traditional colleges is not driven by "grow endowments" and "build grand edifices". They also operate in very different environments. Traditional universities have significant govt support and enjoy a great deal of deference. Meanwhile, when GM produces crappy cars, folks jump to Toyota. (Yes, as with GM, we're going to end up bailing out the employees at traditional universities.)