Education in the U.S. is definitely a business, but it sounds like our system is more sophisticated and regulated. I would say the testing companies are some of the big winners in this game, with publishing companies also doing quite well (and in the case of Pearsons, the testing company and publisher are the same thing). Some private schools are successful, some are not. But there are a lot of regulations to open a school, and there are accrediting bodies to assure that standards are being met.