Education

Troubled U.S. firms get the Argentina treatment

3 Sep 2015

A court says they can’t force holdout creditors to accept less security against loans. A similar ruling led to a standoff between Buenos Aires and hedge fund Elliott. Unlike countries, companies can declare bankruptcy as a fallback. But restructuring is getting tougher for both.

Murdoch gets refresher course on capital usage

13 Aug 2015

The media mogul’s News Corp took a big charge on its digital education unit and is seeking a buyer for it. Amplify joins MySpace, Photobucket, Delphi and others on Murdoch’s scrapheap of quixotic investments. The market reaction suggests he should stick to what he knows.

Clinton’s $350 bln college plan gets passing grade

10 Aug 2015

The presidential hopeful wants to limit tax deductions for the rich to make community and public universities more affordable. There’s a risk poor students are cut off from elite schools. Free or loan-free options also could pressure private peers to charge competitive prices.

After FT, Pearson’s challenge is existential

24 Jul 2015

The Pink ’Un contributed 3.3 pct of the UK company’s adjusted operating profit last year. North America pumped in 64 percent. With the FT sold, Pearson will focus on education. It may work better as a U.S. company, or in other hands. It could sell itself, as a whole or in parts. 

U.S. colleges would gain from bankruptcy electives

16 Jul 2015

Financial trouble at nonprofit Sweet Briar and for-profit Corinthian Colleges has shown there’s no practical path out of insolvency. That’s bad for students. With hundreds of institutions short of money, it’s also a multibillion-dollar risk for the student loan system.

Pluto and pentaquarks boost non-profit science

14 Jul 2015

NASA’s distant mission has gone viral, while European researchers have accidentally proven a 50-year-old theory about matter. Open-ended research at, say, Google is valuable, but government-funded basic science offers unmatched intellectual gains and unexpected practical benefits.

Prison break frees Columbia to make a difference

9 Jul 2015

Divesting from private jailers may actually boost the Ivy League school’s influence over a bloated U.S. penal system. Investments that pay off if inmate populations drop rather than rise can prompt fundamental change. The profit may be less, but the returns to society priceless.

Student loans flunk lessons of Wall Street crisis

9 Jun 2015

Uncle Sam may forgive up to $3.5 bln of debt for students who attended a now-defunct college network accused of fraud. That’s good for grads. But the government’s shoddy approach to lending to its students smacks of banks in the mortgage boom. Time to pay more attention in class.

May Paulson’s Harvard gift spark plutocrat rivalry

3 Jun 2015

The hedgie’s $400 mln donation could soon be surpassed as the university’s largest, if recent history is any guide. Others like Bill Gates give more creatively, but engineering education is hardly a bad choice. Inflation – and competition – are welcome in the charitable context.

Junk status complicates Windy City’s fiscal fix

15 May 2015

A Moody’s downgrade on over $8 bln of Chicago’s debt reflects years of mismanagement. But the move has a rare whiff of credit-agency activism that could spark a downward spiral. No wonder the city of big shoulders is angry. Luckily its mayor, Rahm Emanuel, knows how to brawl.

Harvard’s shareholder advocate drops the mic

11 May 2015

A push led by Lucian Bebchuk to subject all board directors to annual votes has ended. Critics including attorney Marty Lipton blasted the program as deceptive and maybe illegal. Even so, it helped persuade some 100 big companies to overhaul elections. That sounds like success.

LinkedIn adds mission creep to its bulging résumé

9 Apr 2015

The job-seekers’ social network is buying online learning company lynda.com for $1.5 bln. LinkedIn claims both companies share the same ambition: “help professionals be better at what they do.” That fuzzy goal may encourage the firm to take on jobs for which it’s not suited.

Review: If only U.S. elite education didn’t matter

27 Mar 2015

Many American parents and teenagers believe a top-flight university degree is a necessary ticket to success. A new book tries to calm them down. The sentiment is comforting, but the statistics don’t quite support the meritocratic message. The Ivy League still gives a big edge.

M&A world could teach niche U.S. colleges

13 Mar 2015

The collapse of liberal arts enclave Sweet Briar is bad news for cash-strapped schools across the country. Sagging enrollment has pushed some institutions to offer debt-shy students big discounts on tuition. But that risks a spiral. Merging may be one way to ease the pressure.

Harvard’s new fund boss needs a California lesson

26 Sep 2014

Stephen Blyth is taking over the university’s $36 bln endowment at a time when its investment strategy is faltering. Its 2014 performance was even bested by Ivy rival Yale. Calpers’ decision to ditch fee-heavy hedge funds may give Blyth a useful roadmap for reviving returns.

Value of college in U.S. is far from a no-brainer

16 Sep 2014

Despite higher university enrollment, wages are falling for young Americans. Research from the New York Fed shows higher education isn’t always a good investment. Some degree programs aren’t paying off. Loading up on debt to pay soaring tuition fees is riskier than it seems.

Edward Hadas: The stupidity of student debt

2 Jul 2014

Education loans keep growing in the U.S. and the UK. The new reliance on debt is financially dangerous and shows weak economic thinking. The sensible way to fund the social good of higher education is pay-as-you-go: with affordable tuition, donations and government money.

Harvard could get smarter about its endowment

11 Jun 2014

Jane Mendillo, who ran the Ivy League university’s $33 bln portfolio for six years, is leaving. Predecessor Mohamed El-Erian is partly to blame for crisis losses, but Harvard overpaid for mediocre returns. Less of both Yale model investing and Wall Street pay may be in order.

Obama student loan fix spares rod, spoils borrower

9 Jun 2014

Extending repayment caps and debt forgiveness to older graduates gives too many high earners a break. Making everyone pay a flat percentage of income would be simpler, fairer – and cheaper for taxpayers. It could also deliver a valuable lesson in financial responsibility.

Edward Hadas: Three Ms for economics re-education

21 May 2014

Students of the dismal science think their teachers are letting them down. The reproaches are just, but their reform agenda is insufficiently radical. The academic discipline of economics should reconsider the role of markets, pay less heed to money and allow for more morality.