Phi Beta Cons

Making a Profit Doesn’t Make You a Villain

In today’s Pope Center Clarion Call, Hillsdale economics professor Gary Wolfram discusses the recent study on for-profit higher education published by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity. He finds that the authors have correctly identified the factor that makes the for-profits efficient, namely that their incentives are aligned with the interests of students. Being “non-profit” may sound lovely to people who have been raised with what Ludwig von Mises called the anticapitalist mentality, but non-profit status doesn’t mean that self-interest disappears. The quest for profit drives all kinds of businesses, including educational ones, to make the best use of resources.

George Leef is the the director of editorial content at the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal. He is the author of The Awakening of Jennifer Van Arsdale: A Political Fable for Our Time.
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