CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Even as for-profit schools like the University of Phoenix have thrived in other parts of the country, the industry hasn't built a big presence in West Virginia.

Now, a for-profit called Strayer University plans to open its first West Virginia location in Teays Valley - and some state higher education officials say public schools must compete with the proprietary sector by more aggressively courting working adults and others looking for convenient education choices. 

Strayer will be the state's third for-profit school that offers four-year programs. The others are American Public University, an online school based in Charles Town; and Salem International University in Harrison County.

Strayer officials are mum on the details of the Putnam County location. The company hasn't officially announced the opening or finalized a timeline, said spokeswoman Sonya Udler.

But the Arlington, Va.-based company has recently posted job ads in local newspapers for a number of positions, including admissions officers, a business office manager and a student account representative.

According to materials Strayer gave the state's Higher Education Policy Commission, the school plans to open its offices this month and start offering bachelor's and master's degree programs in the spring.

"There is obviously a place for for-profit schools," said David Tyson, chairman of the HEPC, which in May gave Strayer approval to operate in the state. "It's apparent that Strayer and others are meeting a niche."

But some say state schools aren't catering to a certain niche: Adults who need flexible class schedules and young people who have grown up in the digital age. Strayer offers both online and on-campus classes. Its programs include information technology, accounting, business, health services administration and education administration.  

Nelson Robinson, a member of the state's Council for Community and Technical College Education and former HEPC member, has often criticized the state's public four-year institutions for what he calls a lack of online courses. He also says the enrollment process and ability to transfer online credits is burdensome for students. 

"They're not very customer-friendly," he said. "And I think these private institutions are very customer-oriented."

The state needs to provide more online classes to compete with for-profit offerings, Robinson and Tyson contend.  More than 70 percent of Strayer students take at least one class online, according to the company's materials.

"I don't think we have expanded the online opportunities like we should have," Robinson said, adding that his son at West Virginia University would take most of his classes online if he could.

It's not just online offerings, but the overall "convenience factor" of many for-profits that attract some students, said state higher education chancellor Brian Noland. They usually provide short programs tailored to a specific career and evening and weekend classes for working adults with families.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Even as for-profit schools like the University of Phoenix have thrived in other parts of the country, the industry hasn't built a big presence in West Virginia.

Now, a for-profit called Strayer University plans to open its first West Virginia location in Teays Valley - and some state higher education officials say public schools must compete with the proprietary sector by more aggressively courting working adults and others looking for convenient education choices. 

Strayer will be the state's third for-profit school that offers four-year programs. The others are American Public University, an online school based in Charles Town; and Salem International University in Harrison County.

Strayer officials are mum on the details of the Putnam County location. The company hasn't officially announced the opening or finalized a timeline, said spokeswoman Sonya Udler.

But the Arlington, Va.-based company has recently posted job ads in local newspapers for a number of positions, including admissions officers, a business office manager and a student account representative.

According to materials Strayer gave the state's Higher Education Policy Commission, the school plans to open its offices this month and start offering bachelor's and master's degree programs in the spring.

"There is obviously a place for for-profit schools," said David Tyson, chairman of the HEPC, which in May gave Strayer approval to operate in the state. "It's apparent that Strayer and others are meeting a niche."

But some say state schools aren't catering to a certain niche: Adults who need flexible class schedules and young people who have grown up in the digital age. Strayer offers both online and on-campus classes. Its programs include information technology, accounting, business, health services administration and education administration.  

Nelson Robinson, a member of the state's Council for Community and Technical College Education and former HEPC member, has often criticized the state's public four-year institutions for what he calls a lack of online courses. He also says the enrollment process and ability to transfer online credits is burdensome for students. 

"They're not very customer-friendly," he said. "And I think these private institutions are very customer-oriented."

The state needs to provide more online classes to compete with for-profit offerings, Robinson and Tyson contend.  More than 70 percent of Strayer students take at least one class online, according to the company's materials.

"I don't think we have expanded the online opportunities like we should have," Robinson said, adding that his son at West Virginia University would take most of his classes online if he could.

It's not just online offerings, but the overall "convenience factor" of many for-profits that attract some students, said state higher education chancellor Brian Noland. They usually provide short programs tailored to a specific career and evening and weekend classes for working adults with families.

He and others say they don't think Strayer- which has more than 50 campuses in 12 states and Washington, D.C.- will threaten enrollment at public schools.

But "I think that some of their markets ... are markets that our institutions need to be a little bit more aggressive in," Noland said.

Undergraduate students who attend four-year for-profit schools accumulate more debt than others. According to finaid.org, 87 percent borrow, compared to 62 percent at a four-year public. Their average debt is about $28,000, versus about $17,000 at a four-year public.

"These institutions spend a lot more on marketing than our institutions do," Noland said. 

Still, he and others predict the sector will continue to grow here and elsewhere. Over the past 27 years, enrollment at for-profit postsecondary institutions has grown an average of 11 percent a year, according to a recent analysis by brokerage and investment banking firm Stifel Nicolaus.

The bad economy could actually help them. Stifel Nicolaus says that in the past nine annual periods of economic downturn, for-profits have grown by 17 percent. That's compared to eight percent growth during the past 18 annual periods of positive economic conditions.

Once the HEPC approves a for-profit school, the institution isn't subject to the same statutes that govern public institutions.

Tyson said company officials were "a little bit vague in terms of graduation rates and things of that nature," but that they met academic standards needed for approval. Strayer is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

Dan Rosenfield, a member of the National Association for College Admission Counseling, said for-profit schools are a good fit for some students, but that people should be cautious.

"Prospective students and regulatory agencies need to be very careful about some of the for-profits because their goal is to please their stockholders," said Rosenfield, a retired dean of enrollment management at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. "On the other hand, all colleges and universities have got serious bottom-line concerns."

Rosenfield has worked at both public and private non-profit schools, and also for the for-profit Argosy University.  

Some for-profits deserve criticism, he said, like ones that admit people with such low academic credentials they are unlikely to ever graduate. Others employ instructors who care about students and take education seriously, he said.

"I think they serve a market that needs to be served," he said. "That's something a lot of people don't understand."

 Reach Alison Knezevich at alis...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1240.