This is Steve Eisman's excellent presentation and speech from the May 2010 Ira Sohn Conference on why much of the for profit education space is a short. He specifically talks about ITT Education, APOL, WPO and COCO. He makes the analogy between these business models and the subprime debacle. The first 40 or so pages are the actual presentation and the last several pages are the text of his speech. We recommend reading the speech first, then digging through the presentation. Our notes on Eisman's talk are here.
You may know Eisman from his fame calling the financial collapse and shorting subprime securities as well as many of the links into subprime (e.g., originators, banks, etc.). Michael Lewis profiled Eisman (and Burry and others) in his new book The Big Short.
This whole industry is so dirty, it's easy to see how government regulation is the only way that it is sustained. Munger and others often talk about buying businesses that are good for their whole ecosystem (suppliers, employees, customers, and owners). Much of the for profit education system is actually a shitshow for huge portions of its ecosystem, most importantly its customers. Typically those sorts of businesses can only exist and thrive with the help of government's Visible Fist.
Anyway, read the speech first (near the end of the slide deck) then review the slides. Eisman's speech is titled, "Subprime Goes to College."
Steve Eisman - Ira Sohn Conference - May 2010
