Links for 5/5/10

Lloyd Armstrong

the core costs of instruction. John argues that these core costs are very similar institution to institution, for-profit and non-profit. That is, the core of education is essentially a commodity. These core costs are always less than the revenue that comes in to pay for the educational product, creating a profit to the institutions. What varies, institution to institution and for-profit to non-profit, is how this profit is used.

Typically, in the non-profit sector, the instructional profit is used to subsidize the various components of the bundled degree… we over-subsidize. That is, we spend more than the profit made on the core instruction, thus losing money on our now- bundled degree…

most of the for-profit sector sells what is basically an unbundled product focused on core instruction. This leaves some of the instructional profit to be returned to investors…
the way many non-profits are handling difficult financial times… .they begin to unbundle their products…Interestingly, this economically-forced unbundling makes these non-profits more closely resemble their already unbundled for-profit cousins

Paul Kedrosky

more than 70% of the scientists who have ever lived are alive today

Ben Miller

7.2 percent of borrowers defaulted within two fiscal years of entering repayment…

it is still way below the historical high of 22.4 percent seen in 1990…

Doug Lederman

FIPSE has become a -- choose your phrase: "slush fund," dumping ground, haven -- for earmarks awarded without competition by members of Congress, eating away at the funds that are supposed to be awarded competitively to identify and reward innovation.