Dive Brief:
- Herzing University in Milkwaukee has converted to a non-profit institution from its prior for-profit status.
- The move for the career college means that it will be exempt from new federal gainful employment regulations for for-profit schools, and from rules of the Wisconsin Educational Approval Board, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
- In 2013, the state board had proposed that for-profit school programs be required to have a 60% completion rate and meet other standards, but Herzing and other schools opposed the plan and it was dropped.
Dive Insight:
Going non-profit may be the path for other for-profit colleges, as the stricter federal requirements start to have an effect. Herzing has 6,000 students in eight states. According to the Journal Sentinel, the new non-profit, tax-exempt institution will now be eligible for state financial aid. When the gainful employment rules were proposed by the U.S. Department of Education, Herzing filed comments saying that the proposal would be devastating to schools with underserved student populations.