Stephen L. Carter

What Is a For-Profit College, Anyway? And Who Decides?

One has made it into this year’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament, but the real battle may be off the court.

A new position for Grand Canyon University.
Photographer: Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images

March 18, 2021, 3:30 PM UTC

Sportswriters seem entranced by the presence of a for-profit school in this year’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Given the resistance to allowing such institutions to play major college sports at all, the fact that Grand Canyon University has been invited is impressive.

But here’s the bigger question: How do we know that Grand Canyon is a for-profit university?