【摘要】Although the private higher education for profit being in USA for a long time,but once always considered outside the mainstream of the higher education until the end of 20 th century.It got remarkable growth from 1980s that had draw many people attention,such as invstors,policymakers and educators.This paper introduced the history of the higher education for profit in USA,and then,explored the reasons for why the higher education for profit develop so quickly in past two decades,then,pointed out the traits of it in order to provide some experiences for the newly higher education for profit in China.