Tech Investor Cathie Wood Bets Big on Crypto

Cathie Wood, once the largest shareholder in 2U with ARK Invest, is also a major crypto investor. Wood believes that Bitcoin could top $1M by 2030. With US government guardrails weakened in the coming months, it should be interesting to watch the crypto boom and what happens after that, not just in the economy, but in society. Schools like the Kellogg Institute at Notre Dame have written positively about the use of crypto, discussing the downsides as an afterthought. The Wharton school has been accepting crypto since 2021. 

What Would Jesus Buy? (Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir)

 

The CUNY 8 Face Charges for Palestine Solidarity Protest (Black Agenda Report)

We’re joined by Nora Fayad, one of the CUNY 8. Nora and seven others were charged for their Palestine solidarity protest at City College, a campus in the City University of New York (CUNY) system. On April 30 they were arrested and charged with felony burglary and accused of attempting to enter a campus building without permission. Nora Fayad and others are concerned community members who joined the protests yet are condemned as being "outside agitators." She joins us from New York City to discuss their court case.

Related links:

Student Protests

 

FDA: College students using ‘honey packets’ to enhance sex put themselves at risk (Voice of America Student Union)

With TikTok videos promoting “honey packets,” the supplements marketed as sexual enhancements have become popular on college campuses.

But as Charles Trepany reports in USA Today, the Food and Drug Administration has warned that ingredients in the supplements could be potentially dangerous. (November 2024) 

VOA's Student Union is an online community for college and university students in the U.S., including international students. 

Becoming good at math is easy, actually (Han Zhango)

 

DOD Continues Protecting Bad Actor Schools that Prey Upon Military Servicemembers

The US Department of Defense (DOD) continues to stall the Higher Education Inquirer's efforts to investigate bad actor schools that prey upon servicemembers, veterans, and their families. Our effort began in December 2017 when we first asked DOD officials about oversight of its DOD Tuition Assistance Program (DOD TA). 

Our latest request was FOIA 22-1203-F and the projected response date has been moved again, to March 2025. We believe this information is important for the welfare, safety, and morale of US troops and have communicated our concern to DOD several times.  

In our latest correspondence, a DOD FOIA specialist stated that they were "working with several internal offices and external agencies in order to coordinate this response." When asked what DOD components and agencies were involved in the response, the representative said that they could not name the sources, but that a "voluminous amount of records" were located under our FOIA. 

In the meantime, DOD is handing out even more money to schools, and with limited oversight.  And President Trump's nominee for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, has been helpful to for-profit colleges. 

Zenith Prep Academy: Getting Admitted to an Ivy League University

Zenith Prep Academy works with your 6^th–12^th grade child to get into an Ivy League / Top 25 university or AT LEAST a tier or 2 better university, or your money back. prior to anyone becoming a client, our admissions counselors spend 3-5 hours getting to know you and your family for FREE. Only 2000 students are accepted per year.

AI and the Mass Production of Academic Research (Ethan Mollick)

Two researchers used AI to generate 288 complete academic finance papers predicting stock returns, complete with plausible theoretical frameworks and citations. Each paper looks legitimate and follows academic conventions. They did this to show how easy it now is to mass produce seemingly credible research. A warning about industrialized academic paper generation becoming reality. The future arrived faster than we expected, and academia is not ready.

 

Broke Is Normal—Do You Really Want to Be Like Everyone Else? (The Ramsey Show)

 

Student Religious Expression in Public Schools (US Department of Education)

In December 2024, the U.S. Department of Education's Center for Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships released a new resource designed to answer frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the Department's Guidance on Constitutionally Protected Prayer and Religious Expression in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools. 

This new resource answers key questions students, educators, and parents have about religious expression and accommodations in PK-12 schools and provides an easy-to-understand topline summary of the guidance. For more information, be sure to check out the accompanying webinar hosted by the National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments.

WATCH the webinar on Student Religious Expression in Public Schools hosted by the National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments (NCSSLE) and the U.S. Department of Education’s Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

Attendees heard about the experiences of students, educators, and district officials working to create inclusive learning environments for students of all religious, secular, and spiritual backgrounds. Strategies were shared to help school stakeholders recognize, understand, and support constitutionally protected religious expression and the positive impact doing so has on students. Throughout the webinar, the panel discussed how the U.S. Constitution provides protections for all students seeking to bring their full selves to the classroom.

For additional resources, visit NCSSLE’s Free to Learn web page for additional resources on how to prevent, address, and ameliorate the effects of bullying, violence, and hate so all students are free to learn.

Reinventing Solidarity (New Labor Forum)

It's been a new day in the United Auto Workers since the election of Shawn Fain as president in 2023, with the union carrying out an aggressive organizing and political program that has established the UAW as a major presence in American life. New Labor Forum's Micah Uetricht spoke to Jonah Furman, a top aide to Fain, about the union's strategy, its various wins and losses among nonunion auto manufacturers in the American South, its relationship to the Democratic Party under President Joe Biden, and the impact of a Donald Trump presidency on the union and labor as a whole.

Reinventing Solidarity is a podcast produced by New Labor Forum (NLF), a national labor journal of the Murphy Institute at CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies. The podcast features scholars, activists, and artists on the front lines of movements for social and economic justice, and asks essential questions about race, class, gender, and the role of organized labor and social justice organizations in creating a radically different world—one with solidarity, equality, and sustainability at its heart. Reinventing Solidary is hosted by NLF Editor-at-Large Micah Uetricht with co-hosts Kafui Attoh, Ruth Milkman, Samir Sonti, and Sean Sweeney.  

The Coming Boom

Before the guard rails are weakened in January 2025, leading free market leaders are calling for the removal of FED Chair Jerome Powell. The Federal Reserve, by manipulating interest rates, serves like a restrictor plate on a NASCAR vehicle, slow downing the vehicle's top speed.  And for the US economy to boom, especially with proposed tariffs, reducing interest rates is essential to make America Great Again. 

No one can predict how long an economy can continue with so little oversight (other than proposed tariffs) and so much money moving through the system to be borrowed. With bitcoin replacing dollars as units of exchange, that wave could add even more unpredictability. How this strategy will affect US higher education in the 2020s is anyone's guess, but the trends of the rich getting richer, and of working-class life becoming more precarious, seems relatively entrenched. 

 

"Best for the Kids": Michael Moe Interviews Former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos (Ed on the Edge)

This interview with GSV's Michael Moe and former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos reveals commonly held views in edtech circles and trends in US education at all levels. The key words in their free-market ideology are freedom, school choice, and change. 

DeVos says that the traditional educational system in the US has been unresponsive, adding that all of these changes that she has proposed in education are "best for the kids." She states that with choice (charter schools, school vouchers, tax credits), the marketplace will work through any problems experienced by individuals.  

According to Moe, approximately 75 percent of American adults approve of school choice. He says that studies generally show that charter schools tend to be better for kids, especially those who are disadvantaged. 

Neither Moe nor Devos discusses the positive value of federal government oversight or what works in other nations. Even more interesting, both mention instruction, but not teachers. But DeVos does say that transparency is important and school performance numbers must be kept and be made available to the public. Something we should all agree on. 

Pending FOIAs Regarding the University of Phoenix

The Higher Education Inquirer is awaiting five Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) responses from the US Department of Education (ED) regarding the University of Phoenix. All of these pending requests were made in 2023. 

ED has already provided important and substantial information, including an estimate of $21.6B in student loan debt by more than 900,000 University of Phoenix debtors and tens of thousands of Borrower Defense fraud claims, many that have already been settled in favor of the student debtors in Sweet et al. v Cardona. 

To any organization considering an acquisition of the school, we suggest that they read this information as part of their due diligence. 

Copies of this article have been sent to University of Idaho President C. Scott Green and Idaho Governor Brad Little. 

23-02053F

R

The Higher Education Inquirer is requesting a digital copy of the most recent Program Participation Agreement between the University of Phoenix and the US Department of Education.  This request is being made for transparency and accountability related to a proposed sale of the University of Phoenix by Apollo Global Management and Vistria Partners.  The most current potential buyer is the University of Idaho, which will create a new organization that will issue bonds.   (Date Range for Record Search: From 06/22/2016 To 06/22/2023)

23-02283-F

The Higher Education Inquirer is requesting the Fiscal Year 2022 equity value of the University of Phoenix.  The number may be rounded to the nearest ten million dollars. We would also like restricted and unrestricted cash numbers for the school if they are available.  IPEDS has the equity value numbers up to FY 2021.   (Date Range for Record Search: From 06/01/2022 To 07/16/2023)

23-02345-F

The Higher Education Inquirer is requesting a copy of the completed Pre-Acquisition Review application the University of Idaho has submitted for the acquisition of University of Phoenix.  The review was mentioned in the Idaho Statesman, by Jodi Walker, a University of Idaho spokesperson.   (Date Range for Record Search: From 05/01/2023 To 07/23/2023)

23-02537-F

The Higher Education Inquirer is requesting any and all correspondence between the US Department of Education and the University of Idaho, 43 Education, or NewU regarding a proposed purchase of the University of Phoenix. This includes any and all information about a Pre-Acquisition Review. The University of Idaho created NewU and 43 Education as an intermediary organization to shield itself from liability.   (Date Range for Record Search: From 05/11/2023 To 08/11/2023)

23-02548-F

The Higher Education Inquirer is requesting an estimate of the total number of cases and the total dollar amount of Borrower Defense to Repayment claims against the University of Phoenix that were approved in the Sweet v Cardona settlement.   (Date Range for Record Search: From 01/01/2023 To 08/14/2023)

More bad news for remote workers (Michael Girdley)

According to Michael Girdley, "the salad days are over" for remote workers. The exception is with workers with highly specialized skill sets (e.g. those making more than $250,000 a year).    

Do We Need the US Department of Education? | Wall Street Week (Bloomberg Television)

Donald Trump made eliminating the Department of Education a priority for his new administration in a bid to reduce government spending. So what would such a move entail?

 

Games and higher education: the gathering (Bryan Alexander)

This week the Future Trends Forum approaches the holiday season in a playful spirit. A panel of faculty and researchers who teach with games will be our guests: Depauw University professor Harry Brown, American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine professor Ryan Downey, Dr. Karl Kapp, and Forum favorite Ruben Puentedura.

The Importance of Knowing Yourself (Ray Dalio)

 

Scam Artist or Just Failed CEO?

For eight years, this blog has been investigating greed and corruption in higher education at all levels, from predatory for-profit colleges and student loan servicers to elite university endowments. We have also highlighted the good people in higher education: those who promote transparency, accountability, value, justice, and empathy.

Over those years, we have gained a good number of friends and allies and received a small amount of negative feedback. When we did face staunch criticism, or in a few cases, threats, we had to consider the sources, who were always bad actors or those who worked for them. The bad actor, Christopher (Chip) Paucek, and his attorneys, have filed a federal litigation, suing this blog and its author for giving you, our valued readers, our opinion. Specifically, Paucek has taken exception to our characterization of him as a scam artist.

We stand by our opinion of Chip based on what we learned in more than five years of investigations of 2U, the company Paucek led for over 10 years. And we hope that more people will do their own investigations.  

We took our first look at 2U in 2019. In time, we were not the only ones paying attention. Workers in social media presented an inside view of the inner workings of 2U, describing what they viewed as enrollment practices that were highly questionable. Student consumers stepped forward, saying they had been deceived by 2U. Shareholders came forward, presenting Chip’s own words, saying he had misled them. The Wall Street Journal published a number of investigative pieces about 2U and the Chronicle of Higher Education also published two articles. While none of these outlets mentioned Chip, he was the CEO at the time, and in our view was responsible. 

By March 2022, Chip Paucek was still CEO of 2U, and was formally setting up the Pro Athlete Community, also known as PAC. There was nothing secret about this venture by this time. But it did seem to us questionable that a CEO of a large corporation would be formally setting up another for-profit organization while the one he was running was failing.  

In 2024, Chip admitted in an interview that he should have left 2U in 2019, but he didn’t. Chip also admitted that without his staying at 2U during that five year period, he wouldn’t have been able to start PAC. Last June, while still being paid as a consultant to 2U, a company nearly bankrupt, he led a group of retired players to ring the bell at NASDAQ. No one in the mainstream media picked up on the hypocrisy of all that exuberance on Wall Street. But we did.  

 

Chip’s lawsuit against us was a surprise on several levels. First, our statements were just our opinion–it’s not provable or disprovable. Second, it seems nonsensical to bother with a blog seen by only 25,000 people a month. Third, and most importantly, Chip Paucek’s track record in business could reasonably lead someone to believe he is, indeed, someone who says untrue things to his own benefit. 

Our feeling is that this lawsuit is more than a man taking exception to being called out for his track record; it’s, in our view, an attempt to keep us from warning his next potential victims–the athletes, employees, and investors who will be the next to learn about his methods. 

Many states (including New Jersey, where Chip filed suit) have a law to deal with situations in which someone uses the courts to squelch investigative journalism. Accordingly, we are pursuing an Anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuits against public participation) counter suit, asking for his case to be dismissed, and for him to pay our legal fees and court costs.  

On November 25th, David Halperin, an ally of ours for many years, let the public know that 2U is likely to be under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission and the California Attorney General. The company Chip left in 2023, but is still being paid by, as a special advisor. We are not surprised.  

If Chip would grant us an interview, we’d like to know more.

Related links:

“A Perverse Outcome”: Advocates Warn that 2U Bankruptcy Could Protect Executives at Students’ Expense (Student Borrowers Protection Center). 

Department of Education Must Protect Students Following Collapse of For-profit Education Company 2U (Project on Predatory Student Lending) 

A Hidden Risk of Online Higher Education (Student Borrower Protection Center) 

David Bernard v Climb Credit, University Accounting Services, Loan Science & 2U

2U Investors Reach $37 Million Settlement With Online Educator (Bloomberg Law)

Mounting Evidence from State Watchdog Report Proves That, Yet Again, Public Universities Are Selling Out Students to For-Profit Companies (Student Borrower Protection Center) 

USC Ends Partnership with 2U After Graduate Social Work Students Sue Over Online MSW “Diploma Mill” (Project on Predatory Student Lending)

Letter from CFPB to Richard Cordray about 2U

The Long, Steep Fall of an Online Education Giant (Wall Street Journal)

That Fancy University Course? It Might Actually Come From an Education Company.

USC Pushed a $115,000 Online Degree. Graduates Got Low Salaries, Huge Debts. (Wall Street Journal)

This Week in College Viability (Gary Stocker)

This College Viability podcast and the other media that I do will continue to lovingly poke the current Higher Education bear in a never-ending attempt to do my small part to move the industry past its historical model and toward one that recognizes that the Higher Education industry needs fewer colleges.

 

 

 

Brace For Impact! (Bryan Alexander)

Futurist Bryan Alexander reflects on some academics as they prepare for an oncoming Trump administration.  

Going Through the Motions in Undergrad Courses

So much of what is learned as an undergrad is impractical and unimportant to students, especially outside of one's major or minor. There is little humanity in the liberal arts and humanities, social sciences, fine arts and other disciplines, as they are taught in much of US higher education.

Mandatory classes often have little or no meaning to students other than as a ticket to punch. They are at best esoteric. Or worse, folks see these courses as a series of lies.  And they know how to play the game of looking studious and compliant for better grades. Many are also willing to cheat to slide through in an increasingly competitive the job market. 

 

 

Sensing that students don't care or don't have the time to care about their classes, teachers may make undergrad courses easy blow off courses instead of something to challenge their imaginations. 

 

Teachers may rely on their star students for gratification, believing that former students will have delayed light bulb moments. 

 

And there are professors, adjuncts, and teaching assistants who are too overworked or distracted to care. 

It's often worse where students, faculty, and content creators are nothing but numbers: in large auditoriums and online education, especially at robocolleges. In that case, the level of caring can be nearly zero. 

Does it have to be that way in undergrad education? Our answer is no. And others agree with us.  But yet things do not change radically under higher ed bureaucracies, especially when administrators, teachers, and students are going through the motions.   

Frugal Spending as a Youth Social Movement (Arirang News)

This episode of Within The Frame discusses frugal spending as a global cultural phenomenon. Guests on the show are Shin Eun-kyong, Assistant Professor at Korea University's Department of Sociology, and Kim Yong-Jin, Professor at Sogang Business School.

 

 

 

South University's Accreditor Takes School Off Warning Status

South University has been given a clean bill of health by its regional accreditor, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). This week, SACS removed the school from Warning status and reaffirmed accreditation for the school for 10 years. The accreditor also requested a Monitoring Report within six (6) months.

According to a South University press release issued today: 

Dr. Steven Yoho, Chancellor of South University, expressed his pride in the university's achievement. "This renewed accreditation is a testament to the dedication and hard work of our faculty, staff, and students. It reflects our ongoing commitment to providing transformative and quality student outcomes that prepare them for success in a rapidly evolving world. We are proud to maintain the highest standards in academic quality and student support, and this accreditation reinforces our position as a leader in higher education."  

Additional Intel from HEI

South University has been profitable lately, and currently has more assets than liabilities, but it is facing a $36M balloon payment from a $50M Main Street Loan due in December 2025. Main Street Loans cannot be forgiven, and a $36M payment might be difficult to pay out so quickly. SACS is well aware of this impending payment.  Admittedly, the latest posted finances are almost two years old.  We look forward to seeing more up-to-date finances when the latest IRS 990 is posted. 

South could seek another lender to pay off the Main Street Loan. It could also renegotiate its contracts, reduce staffing, and sell off various assets to continue operating. By moving students online, South University could also reduce costs and consolidate operations. It may also be able to increase revenues through increased enrollment and grants.   

For a number of years, the US Department of Education has had South University on Heightened Cash Monitoring 1 for disbursement of federal student aid funds.

We have reached out to South University for comment, but have not received a response as of this publishing date.  HEI is also waiting on a Freedom of Information (FOIA) request regarding Borrower Defense to Repayment claims, which at some point the school could be liable for.  

South University currently educates about 10,000 students, with an estimated 7700 participating online. South also has ground campuses in Atlanta (GA), Virginia Beach (VA), Glen Allen (VA), Round Rock (TX), Columbia (SC), High Point (NC), Montgomery (AL), Orlando (FL), Savannah (GA), Tampa (FL), and Palm Beach (FL).  The school has been in operation since 1899. 

University of Wisconsin System Spends Millions on Consultants (Sara Gabler, WORT News Department)

$51 million dollars. That’s how much money the UW System paid Chicago-based Huron Consulting Group between 2019 and 2023.

Neil Kraus says that number is “astronomical.” Kraus is a professor of political science at UW-River Falls and President of United Falcons, the campus branch of AFT-Wisconsin. He tracks the Universities of Wisconsin budget cuts, technology spending, and austerity measures.

He co-wrote a piece with Jon Shelton for the Cap Times about technology spending.

Listen to the rest of the story at WORT, FM 89.9

Related links:

Chancellor Martin: Public Means Public (Neil Kraus)

State Universities and the College Meltdown

"20-20": Many US States Have Seen Enrollment Drops of More Than 20 Percent

On the 8th Anniversary of the College Meltdown

We started this blog eight years ago, in 2016, to highlight rampant greed and corruption in US higher education, and to raise awareness of this system to students-consumers-workers and their families.  Before that, we spent years in the ruthless higher ed business: seeing folks like ourselves struggling with underemployment, and juggling jobs, family obligations, and student loan debt.  

 

On December 12, 2016, the College Meltdown blog (now known as the Higher Education Inquirer) was born. Our first article was "When college choice is a fraud." That article presented the argument that higher education for the working class was often a choice between predatory for-profit colleges and community colleges that were indifferent to their students. 

While some things have changed on the higher education terrain, like the closing of some predatory for-profit schools, there is still a large degree of truth to the original premise. And much of the public has caught on: working class folks increasingly see college choice as a fraud. To worsen matters, college is increasingly considered a fraud by the middle-class, who see themselves and others underemployed and laden with debt. While a college mania for elite schools still exists, skepticism has turned to cynicism, with higher education in general.   

Bright Spots

One positive change has been for the growth of College Promise programs. These programs, available in many states, have made community college more affordable by providing tuition free or at a low cost. College Promise programs have shored up community college enrollment.  Community college enrollment began declining in 2010, but has shown some resilience as it also enrolls high school students for dual-enrollment.  

More Cynicism Ahead

The rest of US higher education for the working class and much of the middle-class, is less promising. For-profit colleges faced increased scrutiny, and some closed down, but others morphed into state-owned robocolleges that were still of questionable value. Remaining for-profit colleges also rebounded as they closed physical campuses and became exclusively online. 

While many state flagship universities continue to thrive, lesser know state universities have seen dramatic enrollment losses, even as they develop an online presence.

Online Program Managers, third-party vendors for universities, gained scrutiny in the 2020s, but ultimately there was little oversight. Even without oversight, OPMs began to fold because they were not offering the value they promised, even with degrees and certificates from elite universities like Harvard, Yale, and MIT.  

Student loan debt has continued to rise, despite public outcries. But Republicans have blocked efforts for debt forgiveness in court, making college choice increasingly seen, and now known, as a bad bet by tens of millions of Americans. 

In 2021, we changed our name to the Higher Education Inquirer to reflect a more objective stance. But the College Meltdown, as a social phenomenon, continues. 

The Political Development of American Debt Relief (Debt Collective)

 As 2024 is coming to an end we wanted to flag a few upcoming calls happening for you to join.

The Political Development of American Debt Relief
8 p.m. ET Thursday, Dec 12

Governments at all levels have begun to experiment with various forms of debt relief, first during the covid-19 pandemic and now in a bid to mobilize Democratic voters. The recent Supreme Court decisions overturning Biden’s student loan forgiveness and rejecting the CDC’s eviction moratorium may suggest that these forays into debt relief were new and perhaps even impermissible, but this form of politics was a regular feature of American life from the Founding through the Great Depression. We will discuss what lessons we can draw from past periods of debtor mobilization, to help us understand when debtors are likely to succeed in shaping the law and understand how new demands for debt relief are impacting politics today.

Join Debt Collective and authors Emily Zackin and Chole N. Thurston for a conversation about their book, The Political Development of American Debt Relief.

REGISTER

New to the Debt Collective? Join our new member call: 8 p.m. ET Thursday, December 19 Learn about the areas the Debt Collective is currently organizing around, from medical debt, to housing and student debt and more. Find out how to plug-in. REGISTER

Maximus AidVantage Contracts with the US Department of Education Publicly Available

The Higher Education Inquirer has received all the current contracts between the US Department of Education and Maximus/AidVantage through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Maximus serves millions of student loan debtors and has faced increased scrutiny (and loss of revenues) for not fulfilling their duties on time. 

The FOIA response (23-01436-F) consists of a zip file of 998 pages in 5 separate files. HEI is sharing this information with any news outlet or organization for free, however we would appreciate an acknowledgement of the source. 

We have already reached out to a number of organizations, including the Student Borrower Protection Center, the Debt Collective, the Project on Predatory Lending, the NY Times, ProPublica, and Democracy Now!  We have also posted this article at the r/BorrowerDefense subreddit.