The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), formerly called the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit civil liberties group founded in 1999 with the mission of protecting freedom of speech on college campuses in the United States. FIRE changed its name in June 2022, when it broadened its focus from colleges to freedom of speech throughout American society.
DeVry University is a privately owned for-profit university. DeVry is predominantly an online educator but does have campuses in the United States. It was founded in 1931 by Herman A. DeVry and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
Bethune–Cookman University is a private historically black university in Daytona Beach, Florida. Bethune–Cookman University is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The primary administration building, White Hall, and the Mary McLeod Bethune Home are historic venues.
The Art Institutes (AI) were a private for-profit system of art schools in the United States.
Richard Marvin DeVos Sr. was an American billionaire businessman, co-founder of Amway with Jay Van Andel, and owner of the Orlando Magic basketball team. In 2012, Forbes magazine listed him as the 60th wealthiest person in the United States, and the 205th richest in the world, with an estimated net worth of $5.1 billion.
The Chronicle of Higher Education is an American newspaper and website that presents news, information, and jobs for college and university faculty and student affairs professionals, including staff members and administrators. A subscription is required to read some articles.
Young America's Foundation (YAF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit conservative youth organization founded in 1969. In 2018, the Los Angeles Times called YAF "one of the most preeminent, influential and controversial forces in the nation's conservative youth movement." Scott Walker, former governor of Wisconsin and 2016 Republican presidential candidate, became President of YAF on February 1, 2021.
Richard Marvin DeVos Jr. is an American businessman, author, and former politician. The son of Amway co-founder Richard DeVos, he was CEO of the multi-level marketing company from 1993 to 2002. In 2006, DeVos ran for Governor of Michigan but lost to the then-incumbent Democrat Jennifer Granholm. In 2012, Forbes magazine listed his father as the No. 351 richest person in the world, with a net worth of approximately US$5.4 billion. DeVos is the husband of Betsy DeVos, the former United States Secretary of Education in the first Trump administration.
Elisabeth Dee DeVos is an American politician, philanthropist, and former government official who served as the 11th United States secretary of education from 2017 to 2021. DeVos is known for her conservative political activism, and particularly her support for school choice, school voucher programs, and charter schools. She was Republican national committeewoman for Michigan from 1992 to 1997 and served as chair of the Michigan Republican Party from 1996 to 2000, and again from 2003 to 2005. She has advocated for the Detroit charter school system and she is a former member of the board of the Foundation for Excellence in Education. She has served as chair of the board of the Alliance for School Choice and the Acton Institute and headed the All Children Matter PAC.
The Leadership Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located in Arlington, Virginia that teaches "political technology." The institute was founded in 1979 by conservative activist Morton Blackwell. Its mission is to "increase the number and effectiveness of conservative activists" and to "identify, train, recruit and place conservatives in politics, government, and media."
Perdoceo Education Corporation (PRDO) is a public company that owns four for-profit universities in the United States: American Intercontinental University, Colorado Technical University, California Southern University, and Trident University International. The company was previously known as Career Education Corporation.
John Joseph Miller is an American journalist, author, and director of the journalism program at Hillsdale College. He has been the national political reporter at National Review and has written for The Wall Street Journal and other publications. He founded The College Fix, a conservative leaning higher education watchdog.
City on a Hill Press, originally launched in 1966 as The Fulcrum, is the weekly student newspaper of the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC). Designed as a magazine, the weekly tabloid-sized paper releases new issues every Thursday of the fall, winter and spring academic quarters, as well as a back-to-school issue entitled "Primer" at the end of the summer session, for a total of 30 issues per school year.
Brightwood College, formerly Kaplan College, was a system of for-profit colleges in the United States, owned and operated by Education Corporation of America. Main qualifications offered included health, business, criminal justice, information technology, nursing and professional training (trades) programs. On December 5, 2018, Brightwood's parent company, Education Corporation of America, announced unexpectedly via an email that all of its schools would be closing in two business days. Staff were terminated without legally required notice.
For-profit higher education in the United States refers to the commercialization and privatization of American higher education institutions. For-profit colleges have been the most recognizable for-profit institutions, and more recently with online program managers, but commercialization has been part of US higher education for centuries. Privatization of public institutions has been increasing since at least the 1980s.
Families Advocating for Campus Equality (FACE) is an American advocacy group whose stated goal is to ensure fairness and due process for all parties involved in allegations of sexual misconduct on college and university campuses. FACE was started by Sherry Warner Seefeld and two other mothers who say their sons were falsely accused of sexual misconduct on their college campuses.
Campus Reform is an American conservative news website focused on higher education. It is operated by the Leadership Institute. It uses students as reporters. The news site is known for conservative journalism, where it reports incidents of liberal bias and restrictions on free speech on American college campuses. The online publication maintains running list of "victories"—ranging from college policy changes to firings—on a dry-erase board at the website's Arlington, Virginia, headquarters inside the Leadership Institute.
Candice Erin Jackson is an American lawyer and former government official from California. She served in the Trump administration as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Strategic Operations and Outreach in the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department of Education, and the Office's Acting Assistant Secretary from April 2017 to July 2018. From July 2018 to January 2021, she served as the Deputy General Counsel of the Department of Education.
For-profit colleges, also known as proprietary colleges, are post-secondary schools that rely on investors, and survive by making a profit. They include for-profit vocational and technical schools, career colleges, and predominantly online universities. For-profit colleges have frequently offered career-oriented curricula including culinary arts, business and technology, and health care. These institutions have a long history in the US, and grew rapidly from 1972 to 2009. The growth of for-profit education has been fueled by government funding as well as corporate investment, including private equity.
Barre Seid is an American businessman from Chicago. He was the owner of Tripp Lite, an electrical products manufacturer. Seid donated the company to Marble Freedom Trust, which in 2021 sold Tripp Lite to American Irish power company Eaton for US$1.65 billion.
