Cass R. Sunstein is a professor at the University of Chicago Law School and a prolific writer.  In Infotopia, he portrays the various options for gathering information.  Prediction markets, wikis, blogs and open source software are among the choices that he reviews.  Deliberation is a process of decision making that most of us are familiar with, particularly if we’ve served on a jury.  Sunstein describes the strengths and weaknesses of that process and how it can be improved or impaired depending on the size of the group and the influence of “experts” in the group.  While the transference of the knowledge and techniques described in many of these chapters may not currently be available to many small businesses, the fact that some of our largest and sophisticated corporations (Google, Microsoft) are utilizing them, may give rise to a wider and more affordable access in the future.

Infotopia is not a book intended for mass audiences.  Sunstein’s research and writing provides a reader interested in trends and statistical analysis of large populations a background solid enough to ask the right questions of a consultant or employee statistician.

Graphic from Measuring Up 2006, a publication of The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, showing the increasing costs of various consumer goods and services in relation to the Consumer Price Index.

As a recipient of financial aid in the 1970’s when I attended Duke and Tulane, I can relate to the continual and ongoing debate about the affordability of college.  I was fortunate to have parents who believed in the benefits of higher education and who told me to “go to the best school that you can get into and we’ll figure out how to pay whatever the financial aid office says that we have to pay.”  Thanks, Mom and Dad.

Fast forward a few decades and it’s difficult to pick up a newspaper or magazine without reading about the issues surrounding the affordability of higher education.  The subject is complex, solutions are complex, and many people have opinions on the issue.  Robert Bliwise writes an article in the July-August issue of Duke Magazine that articulates the view from his vantage point as a professor of public policy.  There are a few highlights that I’ll mention and will certainly resurface in a few ongoing pieces about the financial aid debate.

Bliwise begins with a description of a book published twenty years ago by Charles Clotfelter (Duke ’69) called Buying the Best.  Clotfelter, a public policy professor at Duke, examined the way selective colleges and universities competed for the best students and awarded aid.  Students weren’t price sensitive about an elite education in those days and financial aid was growing faster than any other area of campus spending.  In the article, Clotfelter discusses the issues between need-based aid and merit aid.  Clotfelter defends need-based aid as “a guarantor of the brand,” and states that the value of the institution would be diminished if only the affluent could attend.  I agree, personally and professionally.  Bliwise quotes Duke’s undergraduate admissions director, Christoph Guttentag, as stating that there’s now a competition between the “haves and the have-mores” in demonstrating the social contract balancing the affluent and the needy.  Bliwise provides a list of thirty-six “elite” schools that have created more generous financial-aid packages for families with incomes ranging from $40,000-$100,000 per year.

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As part of our ongoing efforts to have certain degree programs recognized for their conformity to national standards and for their quality, our Bachelor of Arts in Child and Family Development was recently certified by the National Council on Family Relations.  I asked Dr. Carol Passman, Program Director, to provide some background information on that certification.  Her summary is printed below.

In June 2008, the American Public University System received recognition from the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) for the University’s Bachelor of Arts in Child and Family Development program.  APUS’s is the first fully online program certified by the NCFR.  This professional organization confers certification on institutions granting degrees that include coursework meeting high standards and rigorous criteria needed for their graduates to receive NCFR pre-approval for Family Life Educator certification.  Pre-approval allows graduates an abbreviated application for full Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) status.

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