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Berkeley: From Master Plan to None: Slow Death of Public Higher Education
- nkurz 14y agoUC Regent Richard Blum, for example, is not only the largest shareholder in two for-profit universities, Career Education Corporation and ITT Educational Services, but also, as Peter Byrne reported in a 2010 exposé, oversaw investments for the UC’s $63 billion portfolio at a time when the UC invested in the very same two for-profits. The problem isn’t anything as simple as pure corruption, but the decline of the public university is corporate capital’s gain, and investment firms like Blum Capital Partners know this quite well. Wow! While it might not be 'pure corruption', directing the investments of a public institution into a company of which you are the primary shareholder doesn't sound like 'fiduciary duty' either. This is on top of the question of whether the UC system should be investing in its for-profit competitors at all. I guess it's a reasonable hedge, but it doesn't sit right with me.