American high school students know little about the basics of finance and economics, and the problem is getting worse, according to a report from the AP today.

The majority of high school seniors answered basic questions about finance incorrectly in a nationwide poll conducted by the Federal Reserve. Fed chairman Ben Bernanke called for better financial education, and linked the woeful state of basic economic knowledge to the housing crisis.

Bernanke said, "In light of the problems that have arisen in the subprime mortgage market, we are reminded of how critically important it is for individuals to become financially literate at an early age so that they are better prepared to make decisions and navigate an increasingly complex financial marketplace."

It's hard to disagree with him on this point, but a cynic might wonder if a poorly educated population is really the source of the housing crisis. Sure, Americans don't know much about the power of compound interest or how to calculate net present value, but that's not why the economy is in trouble. The housing bubble was produced by people who knew what they were doing -- mortgage brokers who winked at "liar's loans" and sophisticated bankers who created new financial instruments to get rid of the bad debt. All of these people were highly educated in economics and finance. The problem isn't ignorance but a lack of integrity and regulation.

There is never a shortage of jobs. Some people have two or three jobs. The classified adds have thousands of jobs all the time -- always. If someone is unemployed there is a reason and it is definitely not a lack of jobs.

Sometimes it is a regional lack of jobs, General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Ford Motor (NYSE: F) in the rust belt states of Michigan and Ohio have downsized, but foreign manufacturers Toyota (NYSE: TM) and Nissan Motors (NASDAQ:NSANY) in the Southeast have up sized. This does not help the states where jobs are leaving, and indeed causes other massive problems like weakening the tax base and pushing housing and other elements of the local economy down. However, from a national unemployment standpoint that does not count.

In our discussions of unemployment and the economic picture we attempt to understand the government figures and attribute some meaning. We know the government is prone to put things in their best light (lie) sometimes and there is discussion about what a true measure would be, but does that really matter? It is more important that whatever criteria is used remain constant so that we can use the data for comparisons, not that it be altered often as people become concerned about the exactness of the figures.

It might be time we need to account for a new set of metrics. What are the costs of retraining? How could these costs be distributed without expanding government -- not something I would support. We know that some people are not employable or are only marginally employable because they simply do not have the capability to do many jobs. I have numerous jobs, although generally speaking, I have created them myself over time. Clearly education and training are a factor, along with over all aptitude.

With a name like that, you know The Aristotle Corporation (NASDAQ: ARTL) must be involved in education. It is. Aristotle Corporation makes a vast array of educational materials and supplies for K-12. The company also makes various health care and medical teaching materials and supplies, as well as food industry items. The problem is that Aristotle Corporation is dependent upon state departments of education for much of its sales. Those budgets are not expanding. Thus, the company saw moderate net sales increases 5% in 4Q2007 and 4.2% in FY2007, but EPS decreased slightly in both periods.

Aristotle Corporation is in the process of revamping its higher-margin proprietary educational products in order to improve gross margins in 2008. The company managed to reduce its long-term debt by $42 million and does not forecast any significant capital expenditures in 2008. The stock is currently trading at under $10 per share, and pays a semi-annual dividend of $0.33 per share. Aristotle Corporation offers high-quality educational products, but needs to broaden its customer base beyond fixed-budget, slow contract approving school districts.

What's the new president - - Republican or Democrat -- likely to face after taking the oath of office in 2009?

Daunting fiscal problems -- and right at a time when Congress may have to consider more fiscal stimulus to jump-start the U.S. economy, one economist observed.

The biggest problem, economist Glen Langan said, will be the federal government's budget deficit. The United States is on-track to record a $200 billion deficit in Fiscal 2009 and a $241 billion in Fiscal 2010 -- and that's if the U.S. economy doesn't fall into a recession, Langan said, citing Congressional Budget Office data.

"The baseline CBO projections present a large budgetary task for the new president, but by itself it's not an impossible one, absent a major recession. The problem is there's no money available to tackle any other problems, including ones a Democratic president would address -- health care, energy policy, education and infrastructure. And don't forget the Iraq War, anti-terrorism efforts, and potential mortgage assistance programs," Langan said. "If there aren't changes to the tax code, given the current revenue structure and tax rates,to say the next president's hands are tied regarding new programs, would be an understatement."

Earlier this month, I wrote about concerns that the credit crunch might create problems for for-profit educational providers like Apollo Group (NASDAQ: APOL) and ITT Educational Services (NYSE: ESI).

The concern is that student loans will be tougher to come by and demand for these companies' services will fall. In addition, a tighter economy and tough job prospects might make would-be students less willing to pony up.

Now, the New York Times is reporting on a wave of insider sales at Apollo combined with the company's decision to bring its share buybacks to a standstill. With numerous questions surrounding the future of the industry, investors may be looking to insider trading for reassurance. But they don't seem to finding it.

Apollo has long held a reputation for being something of a corporate governance pigsty -- a jury recently found the company liable in a $277 million shareholder class-action lawsuit. Insider sales and a relatively high valuation combined with serious questions about the company's prospects make this a stock I wouldn't dream of owning.

We've all read about how expensive college educations can be. Hopefully, you're stashing away your hard-earned bread to be able to send Timmy to Princeton. Don't worry if you can't -- endowments and scholarships are picking up the slack.

But, for those on the upwardly-mobile track and thinking of sending your kids to an elite high school, get ready for some sticker shock.

The NYTimes.com reports today about growing tuition rates and endowments at some of the nation's leading prep schools.

While schools such as Exeter charge almost $40,000 for tuition, room, and board according to the article, that's just a fraction of the average of $63,500 annually Exeter fronts to house and educate each of its 1,000 students.

So, what's an aspiring family without the requisite resources to do?

It's been said before that excellent tools and access to them can actually lead to less intelligent students and practitioners of any craft. From the high school student to the accountant, is this premise correct? After all, the abacus and the pocket calculator changed the face of math. Could Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) change the face of critical thinking in its users?

According to a study out of University College London, so much quality access to instant information could be responsible for hampering the ability of many to become quality thinkers. It's a rather interesting premise: Google, known for employing more smart people than any other public company, is contributing to the dumbing down of its customers.

Are those born after 1990 really jeopardizing their critical thinking skills by searching for any and all information on anything using Google? The study mentioned the lack of critical and analytical skills among young people, students, professors, lecturers, and "practitioners" as they all have grown accustomed to "searching horizontally rather than vertically." This is in reference, I think, to those that read headlines but don't drill down into the real content.

Wow -- instant gratification comes to the web. Surprised? You shouldn't be. The web's instant reach to so much has really pushed the concept of on-demand access to new heights. The study also indicated that those in the 12-to-15 age bracket did indeed understand what intellectual property meant -- but that copyright protection procedures were unfair.

With the Virginia Tech massacre last year, universities certainly understand the extreme importance of security. As a result, notification systems – which can deal with things like cell phones, SMS, email and so on – are top-of-mind for chief information officers in universities.

The leading provider of notification services for educational institutions is NTI Group. This week NTI Group agreed to sell itself to Blackboard (NASDAQ: BBBB), a leading provider of learning management systems for universities. The deal amounts to about $182 million (there is also an earnout for $17 million).

With Blackboard's large customer base, there should be a large cross-selling opportunity. Besides, it will help the company's mobile efforts (after all, students are big-time users of cell phones and PDAs).

According to a report from the Yankee Group, the notification and alert market is expected to reach about $1.2 billion by 2011 (which translates into a 30% annual growth rate). Although, in the case of NTI, the company's growth rate is more than 50% per annum (the revenues last year were about $30 million).

Interestingly enough, NTI has a strong presence in the K12 market. This should be a nice boost for Blackboard, which is targeting this category.

In other words, this deal looks like a great fit -- and could help continue the nice growth ramp for Blackboard.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates DealProfiles.com.

Anya Kamenetz has written an excellent series dedicated to answering the question: "Is college worth the cost?": Read part 1 and part 2, which delves into the issue of graduate school.

Kamenetz gives a great overview of the issues and parrots the oft-cited statistic that people with bachelor's degrees still earn an average of about $1.2 million more than high school graduates over a 40-year career.

Here's the problem. Think about the college graduates you know and compare them to the non-college graduates. On average, is the fact that one has a diploma and the other doesn't the biggest difference? I would argue that college graduates are, on average, smarter, more ambitious, and more focused than their peers. That has nothing to do with the fact that they went to college.

My husband and I don't yet have children, don't know if we want any, but I am sure of one thing: college funds for these hypothetical offspring need to be opened immediately.

The College Board said this week that the yearly cost of in-state tuition for a four-year public college jumped 6.6% from the 2006-2007 school year hitting $6,185. This follows a 5.7% increase last year from the 2005-2006 period. Private universities saw the annual tally for tuition and fees rise 5.5% to $16,640. The most affordable education can still be found at public two-year institutions, where costs rose just 4.2% from last year to $2,351 per year.

And that's just tuition and various fees. For students who live on campus (40% at public schools; 64% at private), the cost of room and board jumped 5.9% at public schools to $13,589. To live, eat, and learn on a private-school campus, it will cost $32,307 per year, also a 5.9% increase from last year.

The idea that parents should pay for their children's college education is widely seen as conventional wisdom -- after all, isn't that what those 529 plans are for? And Upromise, the program where buying groceries helps you put money away for your children's future?

I was a believer too until I read Ben Stein and Phil DeMuth's book Yes You Can Get a Financial Life! There, the authors argue that a college education is a capital asset and that it makes the most sense for the beneficiary of that asset to foot the bill. Stein and DeMuth believe that kids who pay for college may value it more, and that student loans and work-study programs are available to make it possible for kids to go to college without parental support.

And as they wrote, "If Mom and Dad really believe they are doing something noble by depriving themselves so their kids can stay out all night drinking in Nassau during spring vacation, that has little do with rational thought."

But do Americans really want to do that?

An article in BusinessWeek discusses the problems recent (and even not so recent grads) are having with college debt. Saddled with enormous student loans, many are taking jobs they don't really have a passion for -- just because they need the money.

Student loan debt has exploded to the point where some experts are wondering whether people will be able to repay. Even if they can, the struggles of that generation may serve as a cautionary tale for youngsters. A decline in the size and number of student loans is something that should be celebrated.

Rather than taking out huge loans, students should focus on options that they can actually afford. As college costs rise, I would predict a huge rise in the number of students opting to do 2 years at a community college and then transfer. State schools are also likely to see an influx of higher-quality, price-conscious applicants.

And those are two good things. No one should graduate from college with a 6-figure debt load. There's just no reason to. An ambitious, hard-working, intelligent youngster can do just as well going to a less expensive public college.

School cafeterias are getting healthier and, amazingly, some parents are complaining about that.

According to The New York Times, they're upset that some school districts aren't letting kids bring in cupcakes to celebrate birthdays. And without in-school sales of baked goods, however shall parent-teacher associations raise money?

Texas parents even lobbied for a "safe cupcake amendment" (no joke) to be added to the state's school nutrition policy, to ensure that students could bring in the tasty treats for birthday parties. Their efforts were successful.

Given the burgeoning obesity epidemic, we should be applauding various school districts for removing deep fryers from their kitchens, using low-fat products, and switching from soda to water.

Are parents right to be complaining about the ban on cupcakes? I don't think so.

The idea of celebrating accomplishments/milestones with unhealthy foods -- and drowning sorrows with soda -- is one of the things that has led to the current crisis (Yes, 60% of America being overweight is a crisis). Instead of cupcakes for birthdays, how about walks in the woods or extra-recess time to play kickball or capture the flag? It might sound corny, but I think a lot of kids would find that more fun. And their waistlines would thank them.

And if PTO's can't raise money without selling junkfood, then they have a serious creativity deficit.

You mean watching reality television and playing Playstation doesn't make you a good writer?

That seems to be the conclusion that a number of employers have reached. In a survey of 100 human resource executives, 45 listed written communication skills as the skill-set that entry-level employees most often lack. Other top choices were critical thinking and time management.

The problem may be that workers have just gotten too informal with their communications because of instant messaging and text messaging. "Yo bro, waz gud" may work with friends, but hirers tend to be unimpressed.

So if you're looking for a job, keep the survey's results in mind: If you can shine with your communication skills, you'll be providing the strength that so many human resources people see as a common weakness.

If you need brush up on your punctuation, this is easily the most fun way to do it: Eats, Shoots & Leaves.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the beverage industry is bringing unhealthy drinks back to school vending machines. In May of last year, the industry agreed to stop selling full-calorie sodas and limit the sizes of certain other beverages.

Well the agreement has since been modified to allow certain iced teas and vitamin-fortified waters with fewer than 100 calories per 12 ounces.

A critic from the Center for Science in the Public Interest was disappointed with the move, and with good reason. The original guidelines were flawed to begin with. Most kids are simply not active enough in schools to justify drinking beverages like PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE: PEP)'s Gatorade and The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO)'s Powerade.

With the burgeoning obesity epidemic among children, we need more stringent regulations of what's sold in schools. If you don't believe me, look around. Parents should be able to send their kids off to school without having to worry that they will be lured in by unhealthy drinks.