Rami Saleh

The pros and cons of for-profit higher education Rami Saleh

The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore for-profit higher education institutions. It focuses on the Middle East education sector and investigates the challenges that higher learning societies face. Furthermore, it answers the question: How do university faculty in the Middle East perceive the pros and cons of for-profit higher education? Four semi-structured interviews among four faculty members at two for-profits and two non-profits higher education entities in two different Middle Eastern cities served as the primary method for collecting data. Each faculty member was required to provide an insight on the topic of study. The findings revealed that faculty members in the Middle East perceive certain characteristics as key when considering for-profit higher education institutions, such as global accreditation, and ease of entry. Moreover, there are positive attributes associated with for-profit higher education including small sized classes, minimal prerequisites, student care, attention and flexible scheduling. Conversely, findings delivered two main negative attributes: high tuition fees and the materialistic image of a for-profit higher education system.