Today, the CCA (Career College Association) sent out an email regarding the importance of words in communication.  The idea is simple: the things we say and more importantly, HOW we say them are critical to pushing forth the right image.  In the Career College association, we have schools which are helping people improve their lives every single day.  These schools help working adults and other ‘non-traditional’ students improve their careers, earnings and lives.  Here is the communication from Harris Miller, president of CCA.  Here is an excerpt from the email:

Words matter.  The terminology we use in everyday conversation defines how we and others think about the objects of conversation.  Politicians know this and fight everyday for the use of words that put their side in the best light—“pro-choice”, rather than “pro-abortion”, “death tax” rather than “estate tax”.

Too often we in career education use “legacy” terms that inadvertently put our own sector in a negative light to those outside, emphasizing the business rather than the educational aspects of our institutions.  For instance, some in our industry talk about student “leads” rather than “inquiries,” “sales” rather than “recruitment” or “closing” rather than “finalizing” an application with a prospective student.  This needs to change.

People need to start communicating and thinking this way!  As people say, thoughts->words->actions.  So we couldn’t agree more with the CCA.

One term we really think needs to change: FOR PROFIT education.  Who came up with this term?  Career Education, Career Colleges… this is the point of the industry.  There are all kinds of industries that benefit people which also happen to make a profit (home building, credit cards, you name it.)

So our addition to the CCA email is let’s kill the term “For Profit” education.  It misses the point and has created an entirely negative connotation.