Are there any obvious relationships between data scientists’ (DS) work and moral virtues?  Definitely.  Moral virtues are the guidance for all type of professions or works–from politicians to the garbage collectors.  It does not matter what the profession is–without moral virtues used as a guidance consciously in the work place will only produce garbage.  It is particularly important in the DS professions for their work, or research results and recommendations will be used by the policy makers.  Therefore, if one works with tainted data, then the results are obvious.  The jargon of data integrity is often used in the DS profession.

Make thing extremely important in the DS profession is that the amount of data or observations that one usually works with is often gigantic.  It is not abnormal if a DS works with million observations to just come out with one estimated regression equation.  Therefore, there is a chance that users will understand the whole research process.  For example, if data integrity has been compromised by omitting or data altering to produce a (more) favorable result?  This is particularly critical in the pharmaceutical company–in the clinical trials for new drugs or drug improvement efforts.  That is the reasons why the FDA’s approval on new drugs can take years, expensive, involved meticulous steps and documentation of evidences in the process of the trials.  Unfavorable results will bring the share of the company down to the sink, but the reverse is true for a success trial.

Note that any clinical trials for the new drugs are heavily regulated by the FDA.  What about in other industry, say education?  How often data were manipulated or change so that favorable results can be reported?  This is a critical issue when federal or state awards any funding based on “performance” metrics such as retention or graduation rate for under-represented students’ group?  Unlike in the pharmaceutical area, the education industry may have been regulated in reporting, but it certainly less rigorous than those in the pharma industry.  The question is this?  Who is going to check in detail if certain minority group enrollment has or has not been compromised?  Here is the question that related to moral virtues.  As a DS or IRI expert will you take the risk to alter the data sets or observations, because someone else wants you to?  Your (level of) consciousness of moral virtues will guide you on such a situation.  Hint: There are 4 levels related to moral virtues.

The Association has written two articles in its Blog about cheating and many more on systematic errors.  On June 6, 2016, an article was shared on cheating related to higher ed, followed by an article shared to the public on December 7, 2018.  Recent college admissions scandals may complete the long list of systematic errors phenomena found in the US higher ed industry.  In the past 6 years, one can see the types of cheating in the US higher learning institutions.  Basically, they can be grouped based on the players’ side either as the suppliers and consumers in the so-called higher education game.  What do these phenomena tell the American public and what do they have in common?  Well, it won’t take Albert Einstein’s brain to recognize or to find the communalities among those who have such a behavior–which is lack of moral and integrity.

If moral is not in the equation when decisions are made, then one should expect the outcomes are tainted.  It is independent of who the decision makers are.  When moral is compromised, then it is just a matter of time before the stinks are spread.  Lack of moral led to all kind of unfortunate behaviors such as selfishness, corruptions, laziness, lack-of-fighting attitude, lack-of innovation or creativity, greed, crimes and others.  The list can go-on and-on.

The results of such unfortunate attitudes are griefs, failures, frustrations, defeats, pains, sorrows, miseries, sadness, anguish, distress, agony, torments, afflictions, sufferings, heartaches, heartbreak, broken-heartedness, heaviness of heart, woes, desolations, despondency, dejection, despair, angsts, mortification, mourning, mournfulness, bereavement, lamentation, ament, remorse, regret, pining, lost of jobs.  The effects of recent college admissions bribery tell them all.

No one will win when moral is set aside in the decision making process.  Unfortunately, it was only Adam Smith who considers the importance of moral virtues (Aristotle) which will ensure the existence of market equilibrium.  Its negative effects are universal, and independent of what kind of decisions are made.  In addition, to what the public has learned about college admissions cheating scandals, Uncle Sam is still trying to cope with student loan debt.  As the election is around the corner, each candidate is trying to throw their mantra to dupe the voters.  This is not about campaign promises, rather it is about moral choice.  When moral as one of the important virtues that affect human’s life is left out from the equation, all affected parties will suffer regardless of their economic status.  One may escape in the short-run, but may not in the (near) future.  As moral virtue is fading away, one will expect more pains occur in the society.

The American public may not notice the big shift seems to occur how to handle the $1.5 trillion student loan debt.  It started with a person who led the DOE threw her ideas of passing the government role to private companies.  This recent movement may have been based on the idea of the free-market forces are able to allocate resources more efficiently–but forgot the conditions needed for that to happen.  The condition is certainly missing not only in the practical sense, but also under the Neoclassical economic theory.  This missing constraint has been discussed by Adam Smith.  He called it moral sentiment.  Adam Smith is correct–a market cannot operate efficiently, if it is not Pareto efficient.

In addition to DOE, Congress has its own ideas as well as the state how to deal with the student loan debts.  Recent article found a very interesting, yet sketchy ideas how DOE has handled the loan servicing companies.  Reading all these articles show only one thing which is chaos.  There is no single public policy meant to management student debt crises.  As the Association has pointed out in many articles no one has the real interest to find ways to minimize the chaos—for it does not have negative direct impacts, but to benefit them.  Worse yet, every so often that more systematic errors were infused into the system to make it less possible to be managed.  Even a superman will refuse, if he were assigned to straight things out.  Pretty sad!

The Association’s hypotheses on the going-concern of private colleges in the US have again been proved.  The state of Massachusetts is conducting a stress test for private colleges in that state.  Well, the following studies that AAEA has done many years ago can help the decision makers in any state in the US to know the financial condition of many colleges, not just the private one.  Please click the following link, and on the drop-down menu, select the name of the state.

Pretty amazing how close or accurate the Association’s forecast of what will happen to US Colleges in the future.  The same thing has been forecasted on the national student loan debt.  There won’t be any easy solutions due to systematic errors.  These errors are infused to the system to benefit certain organizations, but not the American public.  Make thing sad, more of these systematics errors are added to the system, such that solving the issue getting less and less possible.  As we have mentioned, once, the Wall Street get involved–things will get murkier.  One day, the American public will here the Uncle Sam will bail-out all the loans, providing that it has the resources to do so.  Just wait and see.

When someone with this kind of background says something about solving student loans, one needs to really use their critical thinking and always alert themselves with the following phrase “there is no free lunch”.  The article says that he has a solution–the fact is that he makes thing worse through this recycled-nonsense proposal.

By the way, we first heard this worst idea from Sen. Lamar Alexander, chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.  We are convinced this is not his original idea, but the whisperers’, i.e., the lobbyists of special interest groups.  At the hearing, a college administrator gave a disastrous presentation in the Senate floor on January 25, 2018.  Perhaps, the author of this article needs to do more research, and knowing the history of the issues. Those who are invited to do presentation, majority, if not all, are representing higher ed institutions. It will be difficult to admit that they do not have any institutional bias, and do not commit any systematic errors?  It will be hard to say that they are free from either personal’s, institutional or Higher Ed Association’s interest, in such conflicting interest settings.  So next time, the lawmakers need to bring both sides on the equations before drafting any regulation.  Unless, they are also part of the systematic errors contributing actors.  Remember about the NDEA.

Income sharing is the worse scenario to solve the student loans for it does not address the real issue and the root of the problems.  Make things even worse is that young generation in America treated as working bees~~enslaved by who has the money and power to control others.  Giving up their future income, even before their earn it, the same idea of payday loans business.  This predatory practice is nothing, but equivalent to the scenario of modern slavery which the Association has discussed on March 11, 2018.  Unless the majority of American public okay with the resurrection of the slavery era.  This income sharing predatory idea has more damaging and devastating impacts because it affects every single citizen in the country, regardless of their race or  ethnicity.

If Purdue University starts doing it, it does not means that everyone else has to follow the same policy.  This is the thing, the University can charge what its want and receive 100 % from what it charges for—-but its students have to suffer from this type of  irresponsible institutional policy.  Indirectly force the young Americans to transfer their future income to support the high overhead and inefficiency.  What a great idea for the institution, but students and their family got rigged very badly.  Though one of its student (yes, only one among thousands), quoted in the article as Andrew Hoyer–a 22-year old airline pilot said he does not mind that his loan increased from $16,000.00 to $40,000.00. However, Mr. Hoyer is not Mr. A or Mr. Z who are mind to pay $24,000.00 extra for, maybe the interest. Therefore, it does not represent the American public and general population interest–a typical fallacy of generalization example.

This billionaire can say that because his family members never feel the pitch and miserable life because of the student loans scam and the systematic errors made by the actors other than the students and their family.  Through research, the Association found that those who have business ties to Wall Street are one of the worse contributing actors in the US student loans crises.  The Association has addressed this recycled story about a year ago, on January 24 and 25, 2018 to be exact.  One of presenters tries to support his idea asking more Fed money when testifies at the US Senate floor–but make terrible mistakes in his presentation even using a simple table using Excel.  If one cannot even know to work on a simple math addition for a presentation at an important event, such as this one, how then the American public has to trust other college administrators?  You tell me.

It is pretty interesting to follow the news on student loans.  A recent article appeared in Forbes reported that a for-profit education organization has cancelled about $500 Millions students loans.  This company does not do this voluntarily.  Rather, as part of a settlement with 48 states and the District of Columbia.  This confirmed again what we have hypothesized that each player in the industry has created systematic errors for the interest of the company.  The reason is simple for this is a for profit establishment–its objective is to make profit.  The institution that give this company to operate has to carry some of the burden or simply shows a failed public policy to let for profit organizations participated in the education industry, plain and clear.  Policy failure is apparent when more states step in to regulate the for-profit institutions.

Now that the accrediting agencies which, according to the report coming from Senator Warren’s Office, used to rubber stamped the colleges’ accreditation are doing their job.  Several weeks after the DOE has revived its operation ACICS shows what the agency and any other accrediting agencies in the country supposed to be doing many years ago by revoking the accreditation of a college in FL.  Recently, we learned an institution that has operations in the whole country was shut down due to its accreditation was taken out by ACCSC.  Increasing the possibility of college closures starting in 2013 in the US has been predicted by AAEA many years ago.  The reasons why it may take several years until what we have predicted finally became a reality is continued denial from the players.  However, our research findings show they are going to happen.  It is just a matter of time.  Perhaps, the regulator is waiting until the national student debt reached $1.5 trillion.

Whatever the reasons are, the American public is happy for sure that finally the rules of land and the rule of logic are triumphed.  But the damages have been done.  The $1.5 trillion student loan debts are here.

In the past two weeks, and after the court ruling, it seems DOE finally taking a small step to manage the student loans debts.  DOE is one, perhaps among many entities that has granted these institutions to operate.  Therefore, according to the logical thinking it, DOE also has to clean the mess that it has participated in creating.  What if:

1. The license to operate was never be granted and
2. Supervision and accountability are applied consistently
3. Policy on for-profit institutions never existed?

Then there will be a minimal of public pains, outcries or even zero crisis.  May be!

It is interesting to note that this policy shift occurred after the administrator publicly admitted that the US is facing student loan debts crises.