Dr. Carl Cleveland is the third-generation president of family-owned Cleveland Chiropractic College. He is joined by Dr. Dan Carey of Benedictine College and Karen Pletz of University of Health Sciences.
At DeVry, the average age of most of the enrolling students is 18. The rest of the students are returning students, working toward a new degree or building on the career they already have. As with most career schools, classes run all year round at DeVry. "We have three full semesters a year, and that's really a selling point for the students. They typically prefer to go all year and not take the summers off," says President Bob LeValley. All that hard work pays off-DeVry takes pride in the fact that over 90 percent of its graduates already have a job in their chosen field or are placed within six months of graduation. It has maintained this record for 10 years.

Classes run year round at Cleveland Chiropractic College as well, as students work toward becoming chiropractors. The school also offers a bachelor's degree in biology, with most graduates continuing directly on to the study of chiropractic at Cleveland, says Vice President Ruth Sandefur.

The University of Health Sciences has been turning students into physicians since 1916. Some 4,000 students apply for the 225 open first-year positions at UHS every year. The students who apply and are accepted are graduate students who have already devoted a large portion of their lives to reach this point. They're here because, "they have a very serious interest in caring for people," says Karen Pletz, president and CEO of the school.

Such institutions as DeVry, Cleveland and the University of Health Sciences play a unique role within the greater realm of private colleges and universities. The liberal arts and sciences schools serve students who, in their study of an odd mix of philosophy, art and business, often discover who they are. The specialized schools serve students who walk through the doors knowing their calling, their vocation. Both types of private institutions are valuable and necessary to the universe of higher education. As John Newsom once said, "All education is, in a sense, vocational, vocational for living."
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