Saw this article earlier today and I thought it was interesting.
Apparently, the student aid fund/money pot in America is about $160 billion dollars. There are a lot of individuals and institutions who want access to that cash.
However, there is precious little accountability about what makes an institution worthy of accreditation. The information was never made public up to now!
To wit:
"That’s why the recent announcement
from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), one of the
country’s six regional higher education accrediting bodies, that it
will regularly make all of its accreditation reports available to the
public is so important."
"To those familiar with financial markets, product safety,
environmental protection or a host of other sectors where public
reporting is a given, it may seem puzzling that such an announcement is
considered innovative. But when it comes to our colleges and
universities, WASC’s initiative is downright revolutionary."
This is totally stunning: all accredited schools bear the same seal of approval, whether they have a sterling record of success or a troubled history.
Glenn Reynolds, the Instapundit, writes a lot about the Higher Education bubble, and I think he has rightly identified a bubble so big, that will cause such economic turmoil when it pops, that it may in fact make the housing and mortgage bubble pale in comparison.
Here's a piece he posted today, an update from California.
Also interesting: the only part of campus life that has super secret protection that makes it bullet proof against budget cuts. Guess what?
Behold, the Living, Breathing Diversity Bureaucracy!
(Remember, as per Kate-'What's the opposite of diversity? University!)
