The differences between private career schools and traditional colleges and universities are more easily identified. At the core of the difference is the goal of realizing a profit for private owners. Proprietary schools have placed decision making in the hands of the owner, with no tradition of faculty senate or collegial decision making. Teaching positions are less permanent, because instructors have no tenure. Private career schools tend to be more sensitive to market forces than traditional colleges and, because they lack a time-consuming and limiting system of governance, can shift quickly to meet the needs of employers and the interests of students.
Proprietary schools are less likely to have a board of trustees.
This argument cuts both ways. Critics cite private career schools' profit motive and lack of procedures for institutional accountability as potential causes of under-investing in the educational program and enrolling students merely to take advantage of public student aid programs. Supporters argue that proprietary schools have become a cost-effective way to deliver education to a community of students that traditional colleges have not served well, maintaining that private career schools provide diversity and energetic competition for traditional colleges. Private career schools offer literally hundreds of programs. The majority of students enroll in office, technology, and personal service programs.