A din of opprobrium rises from the academy against for-profit education. But a name like "The University of Phoenix" is not misleading to students, Richard P. Hassler argues, even though the dividends that that large public corporation pays its shareholders derive narrowly from career preparation, rather than from more rarefied cultivations of the intellect. Dr. Hassler suggests that it is unfair to flog for-profits about their financial-aid practices, the solicitous treatment they give students, or other practices, merely because their perceived mission diverges from some hoary conception of educational propriety. (Contains 20 notes.)