Dive Brief:
- B Lab, a non-profit group that evaluates companies for the public good they do and issues seals of approval in various industries, is heading up an effort to create quality standards for for-profit colleges.
- With financial backing from the Lumina Foundation, B Lab has formed a 10-member working group to set the for-profit college standards, Inside Higher Ed reports.
- The idea behind the voluntary standards would be for schools and their investors to better assess the schools’ public benefit and to improve their quality.
Dive Insight:
Because the goal of B Lab is to redefine business success, sometimes putting social responsibility before profits, it’s difficult for publicly traded companies to comply with the standards because of their fiduciary duty to shareholders, according to Inside Higher Ed. The members of the committee are from B Lab, Lorain County Community College, the Center for American Progress, Capella University, the University of Texas System, the New America Foundation, North Carolina State University, Laureate International Universities, HCM Strategists, and a former member of the WASC Senior College and University Commission, an accrediting agency.