June 8, 2011
By Goldie Blumenstyk
Colin L. Powell, the former secretary of state and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who is now an adviser to an investment firm whose holdings include stakes in several for-profit colleges, told his new colleagues in that industry on Wednesday that they should "self-police" and operate with best ethical standards, but should also "do a better job" of making the case to Congress and the American people about their institutions' value.
"You've been taking some heat. Fight back and make that case for what you're doing," Mr. Powell exhorted the luncheon audience at the closing event of the annual convention of the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities.
In a 35-minute speech that focused largely on broader themes of world security and personal anecdotes about his own early academic career as a student at City College of New York—where he noted there is now a center named after him despite his being a self-described middling student in most subjects except ROTC—Mr. Powell also offered the crowd some encouragements.
"Don't dismiss the criticism that you're receiving," he told the college leaders, but he also advised them to make the case that their purpose "is not only shareholder value."
"Don't wait for a new regulation to come down the road," he said. "Make the positive case."
While some veterans groups and members of the U.S. Senate have raised questions about the way for-profit colleges are recruiting current and former military students—and the disproportionate share of military tuition-assistance funds and GI Bill benefits the sector receives through those students—Mr. Powell did not mention that issue specifically.
He did note, however, that he's now an adviser to Leeds Equity Partners, a private equity firm that owns a stake in Education Management Corporation, the parent company for Argosy University, the Art Institutes, and other colleges and other education companies.
"For most of my life, I was an educator," said Mr. Powell, referring to his 35-year career in the Army. Today, he said, he continues that interest with leadership of America's Promise Alliance, which champions programs to reverse the "national tragedy" of the country's poor high-school graduation rate, particularly among minority students.
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