首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
American economists once spoofed university education as the only industry in which those who consume its product do not purchas
American economists once spoofed university education as the only industry in which those who consume its product do not purchas
admin
2010-07-19
57
问题
American economists once spoofed university education as the only industry in which those who consume its product do not purchase it; those who produce it do not sell it, and those who finance it do not control it. That apt description, made in the 1970s, has been undermined since then by the emergence of the first for-profit universities in the United States. Controlled by entrepreneurs, these schools which number about 700 and counting sell a practical education to career-minded students and make a good buck doing it. They are now expanding abroad, creating the first multinational corporations in a sector long suspicious of balance sheets.
The companies are lured by a booming market in which capitalist competition is still scarce. The num her of university students is expected to double in the next 25 years to 170 million worldwide. Demand greatly exceeds supply, because the 1990s saw massive global investment in primary and secondary schools, but not in universities. The number of children enrolled in primary or secondary schools rose by 18 percent around the world--more than twice the rate of increase in any previous decade. Now these kids are often graduating from high school to find no openings in national universities, which nevertheless don’t welcome for-profit competition. The Brazilian university teachers’ union warned that foreign corporations would turn higher education into "a diploma industry". Critics raised the specter of declining quality and a loss of Brazil’s "sovereign control" over education.
For-profit universities met with similar suspicion when they first opened in the United States. By the 1980s they were regularly accused of offering substandard education and had to fight for acceptance and respect. Lately, they have flourished by catering to older students who aren’t looking for keg parties, just a shortcut to a better career. For-profit colleges now attract 8 percent of four-year students in the United States, up from 3 percent a decade ago. By cutting out frills, including sports teams, student centers and summer vacation, these schools can operate with profit margins of 20 to 30 percent.
In some countries, the American companies operate as they do at home. Apollo found an easy fit in Brazil, where few universities have dorms, students often take off time between high school and college, and there’s no summer vacation--just two breaks in July and December. In other Latin countries, Sylvan has taken a different approach, buying traditional residential colleges like the Universidad del Valle de Mexico (UVM). It has boosted enrollment by adding and heavily advertising courses in career-track fields like business and engineering, and adding no-frills satellite campuses. Sensitive to the potential hostility against foreign buyers, Sylvan keeps original school names, adding its own brand, Sylvan International Universities, to publicity materials, and keeps tuition in line with local private schools.
Most of the schools that Sylvan has purchased were managed by for-profits to begin with, including the prestigious Les Roches Hotel Management School in Switzerland. But in general, Says Urdan, Sylvan’s targets "have not been run with world-class business practices. They’re not distressed, but there’s an opportunity for them to be better managed." When Sylvan paid $ 50 million for a controlling stake in UVM two years ago, the school had revenues of about $ 80 million and an enrollment of 32,000. The success of the for-profits is nothing to be afraid of, says World Bank education expert Jamil Salmi: "I don’t think they will replace traditional universities, but they can push some more traditional providers to be more innovative and more attentive to the needs of the labor market."
Some students at Sylvan schools in Latin America welcome the foreign invasion. At the Universidad de las Americas in Santiago, Daniela Villagran says friends tease her for studying at "Yankeeland," but she figures Sylvan connections "will give me an edge when I go out to look for a job. "The emphasis on in dependent thought is what separates UVM from other institutions in Mexico. And, for better or worse, more American schools are on the way.
The best title for the passage would be ______.
选项
A、National and For-profit Universities.
B、The Expansion of Universities.
C、University Education of the USA
D、Dollars and Degrees.
答案
D
解析
主旨题。本文开篇提到了与人们过去“教育非赢利”的观点相矛盾的现象:美国出现了教育行业的跨国公司。第二段分析原因,第三段介绍赢利性大学的现状。其余各段介绍美国for-profit universities在国外开办学校的情况。可见全文重点在于介绍赢利性大学,[D]符合此意,故为答案。文中对national universities只是一带而过,并未着重说明,排除[A]。[B]没有指明是for-profit universities,不确切。[C]不确切,本文不只提到美国的高等教育,还提到了其他国家的教育,排除此项。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/XSlO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
______istheoutstandingrepresentativeofAestheticisminBritishliteraturehistory?
Itcanbeinferredfromthetextthatoneofthemajorobjectivesofaffirmativeactionisto______.Whichofthefollowingis
ItusedtobesaidthatEnglishpeopletaketheirpleasuresadly.Nodoubtthiswouldstillbetrueiftheyhadanypleasureto
Researchersinvestigatingbrainsizeandmentalabilitysaytheirworkoffersevidencethateducationprotectsthemindfromthe
InCanada,FrenchandEnglisharecoequalofficiallanguageexceptin______,whereFrenchisthesoleofficiallanguage.
Moderatedrinkingreducesstrokerisk,studyconfirms.Similartothewayadrinkortwoadayprotectsagainstheartattacks,m
A、Shewastiredofthestudyatschool.B、Shedidn’tgetenoughtoeat.C、Shehelpedtoomuchwiththechores.D、Shealwaysslep
Itcanbeshowninfactsandfigurethatcyclingisthecheapest,most【M1】______convenient,andmostenvironmentally
ThismonthSingaporepassedabillthatwouldgivelegalteethtothemoralobligationtosupportone’sparents.CalledtheMain
随机试题
若函数f(x)=在(-∞,+∞)内处处连续,则常数α的取值范围为()
在显微镜下,弥漫性轴索损伤的特征性病理改变是
A.抗胃壁细胞抗体(PCA)B.血清胃泌素C.13C呼气试验D.抗内因子抗体(IFA)幽门螺杆菌根治后复查首选
患者,男,35岁。3个月来间断上腹痛,有时夜间痛醒,反酸。1天前黑便1次,无呕血,但腹痛减轻,化验大便隐血强阳性。若患者出现黑便,每日出血量最少应超过
青年性视网膜劈裂症的特征性的电生理检查是
2岁患儿,发热咳嗽4天,惊厥昏迷1天,查体:T39.5℃,鼻翼扇动,肺部可闻及散,在的干湿性哕音,心律齐,心率1130次/min,肝脾未触及肿大,诊断为肺炎合并
5,4’-二羟基黄酮的5,7-二甲氧基黄酮的
在DDU条款中,卖方在指定目的地将货物交给买方处置,不办理进口通关,不需要将货物从任何运输工具卸下,即完成交货。卖方承担包括把商品运送到指定目的地的费用,但不承担风险。()
2014年12月ABC会计师事务所接受委托,对戊公司2014年财务报表实施审计,戊公司主要从事电子的生产和销售业务。A注册会计师担任项目合伙人。A注册会计师在审计工作底稿中记录了所了解的戊公司情况及其环境,部分内容摘录如下:资料一:(1
爱与恨、喜与悲、紧张与松弛体现了情绪是()
最新回复
(
0
)