U.S. House of Representatives hearing on tax policy impacts on the commercial application of renewable energy technology

Once little more than a blip on the radar of American higher education, for-profit colleges now enroll about 1 in 10 of the nation’s postsecondary students. And this fast growth has not gone unremarked. The past year has brought unprecedented scrutiny and often harsh criticism of proprietary education from policy makers, regulators, and the news media.

These realities suggest that the purported social benefits of policy support for renewables are illusory. Moreover, ongoing supply and price developments in the market  for natural gas are likely to weaken further the competitive position of renewable power generation.

Join us as AEI visiting scholar Benjamin Zycher and University of Wyoming professor Timothy Considine discuss the results of their recent research into renewable energy, with counterpoints from Kate Gordon of the Center for American Progress and Jimmy Glotfelty,  co-founder and executive vice president of external affairs at Clean Line Energy.

The observations and experiences of interviewees who have worked in both for-profit and not-for-profit higher education suggest that traditional colleges and universities will be badly mistaken if they assume that the travails of for-profits today mean that useful lessons cannot be drawn from their successes to date—and those likely to occur in the future.