My Grades for Vanderbilt’s Highly Cited Report on “Red Tape”

Earlier I posted on the “…Senate-sponsored task force…calling for Congress and the U.S. Department of Education to simplify and scale back federal regulation…”

At that time I thought it was going to be a sham.

It turns out it was another demonstration of how immune to getting caught universities know they are – at least getting caught and held accountable.  They don’t even do a good job of hiding that they are, if not lying, then, at least acting shady.  Here is what I just learned about the “report” – all from an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Vanderbilt claims it “…spent about 11 percent of its budget, or some $150 million, complying with federal regulations in 2013-14…”

• That number “…is inflated by costs unrelated to those regulations…including “…costs of regulation that would apply to any employer…”
• “…the federal government reimburses it for as much as 20 percent of the federal-compliance expenses the analysis identified…”
• “…Vanderbilt said $117 million of its regulatory costs were associated with the expenses of its vast research enterprise…”
• “…an additional $14 million was spent complying with rules on antidiscrimination, immigration, and other issues…”
• “…It said the $14 million was attributable to “higher education” regulations but also acknowledged that $9 million of that was for the costs of accreditation…” [which is a choice]