Research

New Lightcast Report Shows For-Profit Colleges Narrow the Skills Gap and Outperform Peer Institutions on Student Outcomes

April 16, 2025

The new Lightcast report, Talent Shortages and Student Outcomes, confirms that for-profit institutions play a vital role in addressing skill gaps in high-demand fields while also delivering strong student outcomes, often outperforming public and nonprofit institutions in many areas.

Graduates of for-profit institutions enter industries such as healthcare, business, and computer support, which are experiencing significant shortages. For-profit institutions are a critical pipeline for high-demand fields, contributing significantly to the supply of talent. For example, for-profit institutions confer 21% of bachelor’s degrees in registered nursing.

In addition, for-profit colleges support the workforce by meeting a high percentage of labor demand in the following fields: 11% of associate-level registered nurses, 33% of radiologic techs, 20% of auto techs, and 10% of bachelors-level computer support specialists.

For-profit colleges deliver positive student outcomes in terms of completion, retention, and persistence.

For-profit two-year colleges had the highest completion rate at 63.6%, compared to 58.9% at nonprofits and 29.2% at public institutions.
For-profit two-year colleges had a 70.3% full-time retention rate, outperforming public colleges (64.5%) and just behind nonprofits (73.3%).
At the certificate level, students at for-profit institutions had 1.5 times higher odds of persisting than students at public colleges.
Students at for-profit colleges were 5.75 times more likely to complete a credential than peers at public or nonprofit schools.
Associate degree seekers at for-profit institutions were nearly twice as likely to complete their degree as those at public or nonprofit colleges.

For-profit institutions are aligned with labor market needs, and their graduates experience strong employment outcomes and job satisfaction. For example:

Bachelor’s grads from for-profit colleges had 1.5 times higher odds of full-time employment and significantly lower unemployment rates than peers from public and nonprofit four-year schools.
Sub-baccalaureate credential holders from for-profit schools were twice as likely to secure full-time employment compared to public and nonprofit institutions and reported similar job satisfaction as their peers from other institutions.

The data highlights the essential role for-profit colleges play in the higher education landscape by delivering measurable, positive workforce outcomes and expanding the pipeline of skilled workers for high-demand professions.

About the CECU Research Foundation

The CECU Research Foundation prioritizes the funding of credible research into school outcomes and how proprietary career colleges fare in comparison to peer institutions in other sectors of higher education. The CECU Research Foundation is a 501(c)3 subsidiary of Career Education Colleges and Universities (CECU), the national association representing proprietary career schools. Studies funded by the CECU Research Foundation are executed independently and without bias from CECU or the Foundation in order to provide an accurate evaluation of the different sectors of higher education.

Please direct media inquiries to Riley Burr, Executive Director of the CECU Research Foundation, at riley.burr@career.org.