Is attending class at a for-profit school ethical?

[tcaudilllg]

I'm attending a for-profit online college. I was kicked out of a community college for arguing with an instructor who graded me very unfairly. Since enrolling at the for-profit college, I've made much better (largely due to being graded for demonstrating my knowledge, as opposed to demonstrating my ability to reason in insane philosophies) grades on the whole. However I have found that the materials are sometimes lacking (at times the required texts are very poorly written, particularly when dealing with advanced math) and the aid from professors not particularly helpful nor easily forthcoming. Particularly since entering the school's human resources program, my grade has tanked. Some of that is due to my hesitation, as I found the ethical instruction offered in the program to be practically non-existent. I also received some bad advice from some of the staff, that I should consider buying previous edition texts to save money. That worked in psychology, but not in HR because the instructors rely on the current texts for all the work. Realizing that they needed to force students to buy current editions, textbook publishers have revised and shuffled the study problems, making previous editions useless.

I'm also livid at the fact that these schools lobbied against efforts to reform from inside the Obama administration. I am an ardent supporter of the president and besides, I think the lobby demonstrates that this school does not have the best interests of its students at heart. I consider myself something of a reformer in my own right, and I don't want to be associated with something that would make me seem to have a conflict of interest.

Given my grievances, I would like to transfer to another school. However, the costs are prohibitively high just about everywhere in the area for four year programs. At least at this school, they are cheap at a relatively low $11k. I'm also leery of being treated badly again by insane professors. That's been the signature triumph of the for-profits, in my opinion, in that the school offers the instruction program, instead of the professor. Then again, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I also like that they consider their professors expendable, rather than valued assets, meaning that they don't get priority over the students.

What I need to know is this: based on the above description, is it ethical to continue on at this school, or does ethics require me to seek out another opportunity? By continuing on with this program, especially the HR program, am I doing more harm than good?

[enlightenment]

1. I think you should perhaps

define 'ethical' to us - because the way you are using it is rather unusual.

There are not too many educational institutions - be they 'for profit' or not - that would feel slighted if you dropped from their program. Ultimately, your education is your responsibility; you have to own what you do with what is offered to you in classroom and in the program as a whole.

What you seem to be asking is whether or not you should go to another school in an attempt to get better grades. Whether that will do more harm than good is related only to you - will it do you more harm than good; financially and scholastically?

Personally, I don't think you'll do better elsewhere, based on the opinions you have stated in your post. You seem to be suggesting that you have no responsibility for what happens to you - that all bad things happen because of things you cannot control and that the people who are tasked with instructing you are all 'insane' - presumably because they don't think you're always right. You believe that those people are simply tools for you to manipulate to achieve your goal . . . frankly, with an attitude like that toward people, I have to wonder if Human Resources is a career path you should be pursuing.

At this point, having been 'kicked out' of one institution and doing poorly at another, you might want to consider looking to yourself for some of the answers to why you have so many grievances.

[tcaudilllg]

2. Ethics?

I don't think you can justify those claims. I got kicked out because I proposed to a history professor that Saddam Hussein's intention in becoming president of Iraq was to modernize the country and improve its way of life. She argued that my claim was wrong, that he just did it for the power. Past that point, her attitude towards me changed markedly. The letter she wrote to the disciplinary committee was filled with ad hominem attacks ranging from my attitude to the way I dressed.

This is a woman who is one of the most radical feminists in the country, and who has apparently embarked on a campaign to make the world aware of the evils of Woodrow Wilson. Really, totally nutty, insane woman. I had another instructor at that school who basically tried to spoon-feed me swing voter propaganda, and another who criticized me for arguing against the "virtues" of archaic lifestyles in this modern age. (and if you have anything to say about that, my mind is plenty closed in that regard so waste your time).

As I believe I made clear, my field is psychology. I'm prepared to contribute to the field's growth considerably, but I want to have an education that the left wing will respect. It's important that people don't question my education so that I can defend my message from extremists who find my discoveries unpalpable to their worldviews and personal ambitions. On the other hand, I'm not getting much support in that regard, so I guess I'm really wondering whether or not the people who protest capitalism's growing influence in schools are serious about what they say, or just hypocrites who also aim to malign, by virtue of their unbalanced reasoning, the ability of students to get effective instruction. You say for-profit education is bad? Well then make your case now, or it may be too late to make it later.

[NYC_SKP]

3. You mean like a University of California, a California State University, or a Community College?

Because, lets' face it, if they aren't tuition free then they are, at least to some degree, for profit.

Me, I wouldn't have a problem with what you're doing, you gotta do what you gotta do.

But the premise of your question is, I think, mistaken and it serves to perpetuate (not your intention, I'm sure) a belief that community colleges are somehow benevolent entities.

It's all a racket, IMO.

We ought to have a free education for all who truly want it, because an educated populace lifts us all.

Tuition is a form of sorting by class, not by ability or interest.

[tcaudilllg]

4. I'm talking about one of those schools that lobbied against Obama's tougher regs on for-profits

Not gonna say which one.