enabled for-profits to focus arguments about educational quality on demonstrable data points.  Primary values in higher education such as seat time, full time faculty, and tenure were directly challenged by the for-profits.  They have been successful in this challenge.  For instance, look now how the Department of Education is recommending to Congress to lift the ban on financial aid for degree programs delivered over fifty percent online.

I sense a sea change coming in higher education about for-profits.  It is hard to think of anything more universally despised in higher education than the for-profits.  However, now leaders are beginning to say, "They are serving a particular group of students and are growing in popularity.  Let's take a look and learn."  As I mentioned in my book, when we began our study by asking experts in the field about innovative institutions to study they regularly pointed to the University of Phoenix and DeVry University.  While it is unlikely that traditional institutions would completely adopt for-profit strategies, there are elements they might consider.  I do sense a change in the atmosphere, somewhat like what has happened with attitudes towards distance learning.  It used to be that you could get a pretty good argument going just by mentioning distance learning at a faculty senate meeting.  Now at many universities distance learning is seamless—just another form of education.

What are the most important lessons not-for-profits can learn from for-profits? Three come to mind right away:  attention to service, balancing revenue and academic interests, and targeting corporations.  Many point to the "customer service" approach of the for-profits and describe this in negative terms.  However, one really interesting thing to note is how attention to student needs has been particularly successful in serving first-generation and minority student populations.  Generally, for-profit leaders do not talk about affirmative action or serving students from lower economic classes.  Yet, they do statistically serve ethnic minority students disproportionately.  Why?  By paying particular and special attention to student needs.

Second, because it clearly is a danger for them, for-profits constantly talk about balancing the profit motive with student academic quality. Traditional institutions

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