| | |
Government policy can have a huge impact on
information businesses. A panel discussion at last
month’s Information Industry Summit dealt mostly
with the negative impact of government agencies
putting ever-more of their content on the web free
of charge. Such moves make the government a
potential competitor to many traditional publishers
who charge for products that contain re-packaged
government information. At the same time, many of
these publishers, especially those dealing in legal,
regulatory, and compliance issues, benefit hugely
from government. Changes in state or federal laws,
agency rulings, and court opinions all create
constant demand for updated information.
Sometimes a change in government policy itself can
have a direct impact on information businesses.
For example, under a bill recently passed by
Congress, colleges and universities no longer will
be required to deliver at least half their courses
on a campus instead of online to qualify for federal
student aid. Online education companies, most of
them operating on a for-profit basis, should be huge
beneficiaries of this change in the law. In 2005,
approximately 4% of the 16.9 million students
attending degree-granting institutions were enrolled
for-profit institutions, but enrollment is growing
much faster at these commercial institutions than at
traditional, non-profit institutions.
According to a front-page story in the New York
Times, the Bush
administration backed the change, ostensibly as a
way to reach more students. The for-profit
educational industry has a mixed reputation,
accounting for nearly 75% of fraud cases, according
to the Department of Education. But according to
the Times, the industry has many friends in
government. For example, Sally Stroup, the
assistant secretary of education responsible for
regulating higher education, is a former lobbyist
for the University of Phoenix, the nation's largest
for-profit university, and the for-profit industry
retained A. Bradford Card, the brother of the White
House chief of staff, Andrew Card, as a lobbyist.
| |  |
