营利性大学在20世纪后期在美国得到了迅速发展，但是利益驱动办学在美国受到了越来越多的负面评价。有些营利性大学甚至面临一些起诉和法律制裁。那我们如何界定美国教育界的盈利和非盈利机构呢。
从结构上看，美国联邦教育部国家教育统计中心NCES 将高等教育组织识别为“公立机构”和“私立机构”。其中，私立高教机构类别又划分为 “独立的非营利性” (independent not-for-profit)、 “营利性”(for-profit) 以及 “宗教附属的” (religiously affiliated) 三个子类。一般而言，营利性高等教育 (for-profit higher education) 与传统的私立高等教育和公立高等教育机构不同，由私人公司或商业组织参与运营、管理，其本身也是注册为商业公司的法律形态。
数据显示，1980年美国164家营利性高等教育机构的在校生人数仅为11万人;2000年机构数量达到724家，在校生人数达到45万人，占到私立高等教育机构在校生人数总数的12.6%。短短20年时间，机构数量增长了4.4倍，学生人数增长4倍。营利性高等教育的学生入学人数2010年实现了历史性的突破，首次超越传统私立高等教育机构入学规模，达到2,018,397人。
美国营利性大学崛起的背后有一个特殊商业模式的支撑，其90%的盈利都来自联邦机构的助学贷款。根据美国联邦学生贷款政策，只要是美国永久居民并且没有教育贷款违约记录，就可以获得联邦贷款。
2010年营利性大学从政府处申请到的助学贷款和助学金已上升到300亿美元。可是讽刺的是：占用了美国1/4联邦助学资金支持的营利性大学，每年却只有不到20%的学生完成学业。即便是顺利拿到毕业证的学生在找工作时也没有任何优势，支付了高额的学费却不能毕业、不能就业，这导致美国国内不能偿还学费贷款的年轻人越来越多。
不同于布什政府，奥巴马政府对营利性大学向来没有什么好感。在宾厄姆顿大学一次演讲中，奥巴马就明确称这些营利性大学为“敲诈者”，其教育部长更是强硬地要求对营利性大学出台更为激进的监管措施。而白宫高等教育峰会上，更是没有一家营利性大学收到赴会邀请。
在全美上百所一流大学当中，没有一所是营利性机构。其他大多数高等教育机构也都是非营利性的。例外的只有专门从事职业教育的营利性学院（如非尼克斯大学），但上这种学校，学员必须放弃获得精英学术地位的打算。为什么一流的教育机构毫无例外都是非营利性的呢？ 美国的一流大学，学费收入一般只能占到每年支出的1/3，甚至更低；不足的部分主要来自捐赠 ——当前校友们的现金捐赠，以及从前和当前校友们赞助款项的利息收入。假设学校采取营利性组织形式，愿意捐赠的校友肯定不多，所以，非营利大学占有明显的竞争优势。
在这里特别提醒家长和学生，在选择美国院校的时候，除了详细比对我国教育部前不久公布的美国野鸡大学名单外，还需时刻更新美国教育部门的信息，谨防掉进不符合招生标准的学校陷阱。警惕到这类大学读书，因为基本上是花钱买文凭，买比‘野鸡’好点的‘家鸡’文凭。
【附】以下是150所美国营利性大学，仅供参考。
Academy of Art University– San Francisco,California
Allied College– Maryland Heights, Missouri and Fenton, Missouri
Allied American University– Laguna Hills,California
American Career College– Los Angeles,California
American College of Education– Illinois
American Inter Continental University– multiplelocations, a subsidiary of Career Education Corporation
American Military University– Online
American Public University– Online
American SentinelUniversity - Online
AntonelliCollege– multiplelocations
Argosy University– multiplelocations, a subsidiary of Education ManagementCorporation
Arizona Summit LawSchool - a subsidiary of InfiLaw System
The Art Institutes– multiplelocations; not to be confused with University of The Arts, asubsidiary of Education Management Corporation
ASA College-campuses inBrooklyn, midtown Manhattan, and Miami
AshfordUniversity– Clinton, Iowa,a subsidiary of Bridgepoint Education, includes Forbes School ofBusiness
Ashmead College– multiplelocations
ATI Enterprises-campuses in Arizona, Florida, and Texas
Banner College– Arlington,Virginia
Banner Institute– Chicago
Beckfield College - a subsidiary of Quad Partners
Berkeley College– New York and New Jersey; not to be confused with University of California,Berkeley, Berklee School of Music or the Berkeley College at YaleUniversity
Blair College– Colorado Springs, Colorado
Blue Cliff College, a subsidiary of Quad Partners
Breckinridge School of Nursing and Health Sciences - multiple locations, a subsidiary ofITT Education
Briarcliffe College-Long Island, NY, a subsidiary of Career EducationCorporation
Brooks Institute of Photography– multiplelocations
Brown College– Mendota Heights, Minnesota; not to be confused with Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island
Brown Mackie College– multiplelocations, a subsidiary of Education ManagementCorporation
Bryant & Stratton College– multiplelocations
Bryman College–multiplelocations; not to be confused with The Bryman School inArizona
Bryman Institute–multiplelocation
California Miramar University– San Diego,California (formerly known as Pacific WesternUniversity)
Capella University -Minneapolis, Minnesota and online
Charlotte School of Law- subsidiary of InfiLaw System
The College of Westchester– White Plains,New York
Chamberlain College ofNursing- a subsidiary of Devry
Charter College-campuses in Alaska, California, and Washington
Colorado Technical University– multiplelocations, a subsidiary of Career Education Corporation
Columbia Southern University– not to beconfused with Columbia University
Concorde Career Colleges- multiple locations
Court ReportingInstitute- St. Louis, MO and Dallas, TX
Daniel WebsterCollege– Nashua, NewHampshire, subsidiary of Devry
Daymar College– multiplecampuses in Kentucky and Ohio, and online
Deaconess College of Nursing– St. Louis,Missouri
DeVry Education Group– multiplelocations, subsidiaries include Ross University School of Medicine,Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, Chamberlain Schoolof Nursing, Keller School of Management
DigiPen Institute ofTechnology - Redmond, Washington
Dorsey Schools- asubsidiary of Quad Partners
ECPI University– formerly ECPI College of Technology; multiple locations; includes Medical CareersInstitute multiple locations in Virginia
Engine City Technical Institute– SouthPlainfield, New Jersey
Erie Business Center -Erie, PA
Everglades University– Boca Raton,Florida
Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising– FIDM (fourlocations in California) not to be confused with Fashion Instituteof Technology a state university in New York City
Five Towns College– Dix Hills, NewYork
Florida Career College– multiplelocations
Florida Costal Schoolof Law- Jacksonville, FL. Subsidiary of InfiLaw System
Florida MetropolitanUniversity – multiplelocations
Florida National University - Hialeah, Florida not to be confused with Florida StateUniversity
Full Sail University– Winter Park,Florida
Georgia Medical Institute– multiplelocations, not to be confused with the Medical College of Georgiaat Georgia Regents University
Gibbs College– multiplelocations
GlobeUniversity/Minnesota School of Business– multiplelocations in Minnesota not to be confused with Carlson School ofManagement the business school of the University ofMinnesota
Grantham University -Kansas City, Missouri
Grand Canyon University– Phoenix,Arizona
Hamilton College(Iowa)– now part ofKaplan University; formerly operated from multiple locations inIowa and Nebraska; not to be confused with Hamilton College inClinton, New York, or with the unaccredited HamiltonUniversity
Harris School of Business– multiplelocations
Harrison College(Indiana)– multiplelocations
Heald College– based in SanFrancisco: multiple locations in California, Portland, andHonolulu
Herzing University– multiplelocations, in the process of becoming a nonprofituniversity
High-TechInstitute– multiplelocations
Illinois School of Health Centers - Chicago, Illinois
InterCoast Colleges/InterCoast Career Institute - multiplelocations
International Academyof Design and Technology– multiplelocations
ITT Technical Institute– multiplelocations
Kaplan College– multiplelocations; includes Maric Colleges and Kaplan CareerInstitutes
Kaplan University– multiplelocations
KeiserUniversity– multiplelocations, in the process of becoming a nonprofitcollege
Kendall College– Chicago,Illinois
Kitchen Academy– Los Angeles,California
Le Cordon Bleu– multiplelocations, subsidiary of Career Education Corporation
Lincoln Group of Schools– multiplelocations not to be confused with Lincoln University
Las VegasCollege– Henderson,Nevada
Los Angeles FilmSchool– Los Angeles,California
McCann School ofBusiness and Technology– multiplelocations
McNally Smith Collegeof Music– Saint Paul,Minnesota
Miami International University of Art and Design
Mildred Elley – multiplelocations
Miller-Motte– multiplelocations
Missouri College - asubsidiary of Career Education Corporation
Monroe College– multiplelocations
Mount Washington College– multiplelocations in New Hampshire
Mountain West College– Salt LakeCity, Utah
National American University– multiplecampuses, including Mall of America not to be confused with American University
National College– multiple U.S.locations
National Institute ofTechnology (United States)– multiplelocations; not to be confused with National Institutes ofTechnology in India
National ParalegalCollege - Phoenix, Arizona
National School of Technology– multiplelocations
Neumont University– multiplelocations
New School of Architecture and Design– San Diego,California; not to be confused with The New School
Northcentral University
Ohio BusinessCollege– multiplelocations
Olympia Career Training Institute– multiplelocations
Pacific College ofOriental Medicine, a subsidiary of Quad Partners
Parks College– multiplelocations
Pennco Tech– multiplelocations
Pioneer Pacific College– multiplelocations in Oregon
Pittsburgh Technical Institute– Oakdale,Pennsylvania and Cranberry Township, Butler County,Pennsylvania
Porter and ChesterInstitute - Connecticut, Massachusettes
Potomac College– Washington,D.C. area
Post University-Connecticut, not to be confused with C.W. Post
Rasmussen College– multiplelocations
Rhodes Colleges,Inc– multiplelocations; not to be confused with Rhodes College
Rochester Business Institute– Rochester, NewYork, not to be confused with Rochester Institute ofTechnology
Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine
SAE Institute– formerly theSchool of Audio Engineering
Salem International University– Salem, WestVirginia
San Joaquin Valley College– California,multiple locations
Sanford-Brown College– multiplelocations, subsidiary of Career Education Corporation not to beconfused with either Stanford University or SamfordUniversity
Schiller International University– multiplelocations
School of Visual Arts– New York City
South College,Knoxville, Tennessee
South University– multiplelocations; not to be confused with Southern University or the University of the South
Southern CareersInstitute - Texas, multiple locations
Southern States University, California
Southwest Florida College Tampa, Fort Myers, Port Charlotte, BonitaSprings
Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology Tulsa, Oklahoma
Southwestern College– multiplelocations; not to be confused with Southwestern University or Lincoln University
Specs Howard School ofMedia Arts– Michigan
Spencerian College– Kentucky,multiple locations
Springfield College– Springfield,Missouri; not to be confused with Springfield College inSpringfield, Massachusetts
Stratford University– multiplelocations
Strayer University– multiplelocations
Sullivan University– Kentucky,multiple locations
TCI College of Technology– New York City;in 2007 TCI also assumed responsibility for the closed InterboroInstitute, owned by EVCI Career Colleges HoldingCorporation[1][2]
Tooling University,Cleveland, Ohio
United Education Institute - campuses in California and Georgia
Universal Technical Institute- campuses in Arizona, California, Florida, Massachusetts,North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Texas
University of Advancing Technology– Tempe,Arizona
University of Phoenix– multiplelocations
University of the Potomac - Washington DC; Vienna, Virginia; online
University of the Rockies– Colorado Springs, Colorado, a subsidiary of BridgepointEducation
U.S. Career Institute -Fort Collins, Colorado
Vet TechInstitute– Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania
Virginia College– multiplelocations, not to be confused with the University of Virginia
WaldenUniversity– Minneapolis,Minnesota
Waldorf College -Forrest City, Iowa
West Coast University– Los Angeles,California
Western Business College– multiplelocations
Western Career Institute– Arizona
Western International University– multiplelocations, a subsidiary of Apollo Group
Western State University College of Law– Fullerton,California not to be confused with Western Governors University
Westwood College– multiplelocations
已经关闭的：
Anthem Career College -multiple locations in Tennessee, closed 2014
Anthem College -multiple locations, closed in 2014
Anthem Institute– formerly theChubb Institute; multiple locations, closed 2014
Brooks College– California,closed in 2008
Career Colleges ofAmerica - California, closed in 2014
Collins College– Phoenix,Arizona area
Crown College– Tacoma,Washington (lost accreditation in 2007 and closed)
Everest College– multiplelocations, a subsidiary of Corinthian Colleges, closed2015
EverestInstitute– multiplelocations, a subsidiary of Corinthian Colleges, closed2015
FastTrain College -Florida, closed in 2014 after FBI raid [3]
Omega Institute- closedin 2014
Kee BusinessCollege– multiplelocations in Virginia, subsidiary of Corinthian Colleges,Inc。
Victory University -Memphis, Tennessee - closed in 2014
美国境外的：
AMA Computer University– Quezon City,Philippines
Anhembi Morumbi University– SãoPaulo, Brazil
BPP University– United Kingdom
College of Printing Arts– Moscow
Cyprus College– Nicosia,Cyprus
London School ofBusiness and Finance - Great Britain
Moscow State University of Printing Arts– Moscow
Multimedia University– multiplelocations in Malaysia
Taylor University -multiple locations in Malaysia
Nyenrode Business University– Breukelen,Netherlands
Regenesys BusinessSchool - Sandton, South Africa
Ross University– Ross University School of Medicine in Picard, Dominica; Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine in Saint Kitts
Institute of Bank andCommerce - Puerto Rico
Dewey University-Puerto Rico
St. George's University– Grenada -includes medical school, school of veterinary medicine, and otherprograms
Universidad Europea de Madrid– Madrid,Spain
University of the LatinAmerican Educational Center– Rosario,Argentina
University of Law -United Kingdom
Dnyaneshwar Vidyapeeth- India
Rai University-India
