Before celebrating, though, remember that depressed housing prices and constrained financial markets make it tougher to dip into home equity to pay for school (a favorite strategy of the past few years), and layoffs are putting an obvious strain on household finances. So, the bargain in all this may be hard to find, even with financial aid increases of 9.2%.

Continue reading Recession: something (finally) strong enough to slow tuition hikes

Recession: something (finally) strong enough to slow tuition hikes originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Tell-tale stat: Yale University to lay-off up to 300 staff

Tell-tale stat: Yale University to lay-off up to 300 staff originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 03 Mar 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Reuters reports that Ray Fair, a Yale University economist who has been predicting elections with remarkable accuracy over the last several decades, is calling for an Obama victory on November 4. How so? The economy is in the tank. And his model predicts that a strong economy benefits the party of the incumbent and a weak one is great for the challenger.

Fair's model predicts Obama will win 52.2% of the vote to McCain's 47.8%, according to Reuters. And that's based on a relatively optimistic set of economic assumptions. In April, Fair ran the numbers assuming U.S. economic growth of 1.5% and a 3% rate of inflation. But in the fourth quarter of 2007, GDP growth was revised to a negative 0.2%. And despite 0.9% growth in the first quarter and 1.9% growth in the second quarter, it would not surprise me to see those numbers revised into negative territory. Meanwhile, inflation, most recently roaring ahead at 5%, is way above Fair's prediction.

Another similar model developed by Macroeconomic Advisers -- which Reuters reports has correctly predicted the winning party 12 out of 14 times -- uses more recent data to suggest that in light of the dismal economic conditions McCain will get 45% of the vote in November. Who knows whether these models will work for this election? In the meantime, they suggest that the worse the economy gets, the better it is for Obama.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter.

Will Obama beat McCain with 52.2% of the vote? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 03 Aug 2008 19:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yale grad takes over at Harvard's $35 billion endowment originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 28 Mar 2008 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

David Swensen has led Yale's endowment to phenomenal results since taking charge in 1988. According to the New York Times, his advice for individual investors is simple: "use index funds, exchange-traded funds and other low-cost instruments, and stick to your long-term asset allocation -- even when the markets are in tumult."

What's interesting about the Times interview is that Mr. Swensen decided to use it as an opportunity to take some shots at Mad Money host Jim Cramer: "There is nothing that Cramer says that can help people make intelligent decisions. He takes something that is very serious and turns it into a game. If you want to have fun, go to Disney World."

Mr. Swensen sure did manage to come across as an aristocratic snob. But I'm actually inclined to agree with him to a certain extent: I would never follow Cramer's stock picks. I think he gives way, way too many tips. But I do watch Mad Money regularly because Jim Cramer is a really smart guy and has been down in the trenches of money management. Some of his broader ideas are useful, and let's face it: his is one of the few really entertaining shows on CNBC.

Yale's top investor bashes Jim Cramer originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 17 Feb 2008 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Harvard endowment surges to nearly $35 billion

Harvard endowment surges to nearly $35 billion originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 22 Aug 2007 14:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine just published its ranking of the "best values" in private colleges. The rankings featured two lists: one for the top liberal arts colleges, which offer mostly undergraduate programs, and the other for universities, which also offer graduate degrees.

As a sophomore of Amherst College, I was not surprised to see Swarthmore, Williams, and Amherst round out the top three colleges. Cal Tech, Yale, and Harvard topped the list for the top three universities.

Like many private institutions across the nation, Swarthmore uses its own calculation, in addition to the federal government's formula, to determine who qualifies for need-based aid. "We really want to know your situation and give a fair assessment," says James Bock, the financial aid director at Swarthmore college. The result can be surprising. "People can qualify for aid with incomes of $140,000 and above."

Not only does Swarthmore and these highly competitive liberal arts colleges offer a great education and financial aid packages, but they seem also to come with a degree of social conscience, e.g., the capacity to "change the world energy." Scott Storm, chose Swarthmore because he "wanted a place that was going to be very aware of social and civic responsibilities. One example that was noted was that Swarthmore sent "Swatties" to New Orleans to gut houses and to China to work in Aids clinics.

Continue reading Best value in private colleges

Best value in private colleges originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 16 Mar 2007 17:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

College courses online: Who gains? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 05 Mar 2007 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.