A different take on student loan defaults

Stereotype: student loan debt is at all time high levels and is now larger than credit card debt.  Defaults are rising mainly because of the rising cost of four-year colleges and graduate schools.  

Not so fast, says the NY Fed in a post yesterday on Marginal Revolution.  It turns out that default rates are highly correlated with balance due at the end of schooling.  The default rate is over 30% among those with a balance of $5k, whereas it is between 15 and 20% for those with a balance due of $100k or more.  Those with very high balances tend to be those who completed school, whereas those with the lowest balances tend to be predominantly those who lasted only a semester or two.  

Turns out that there are a lot more student borrowers in the low balance category (72% owe $25k or less) than the high balance one (3% owe $100k or more).  One of the commentators on the NY Fed blog offers a possible explanation of what is going on:

Bad credit seems to correlate with bad academics. Many seem concerned more with paying bills than paying education. Sometimes they are just out of jail and no one will hire them. Their probation requires they work or get a job which the later is nearly impossible. Other times we have people so deep in the hole in debt already that the student loans was a way to buy more time. The word is out if you have bad credit and are desperate for funds just go to a community college where tuition is low and borrow the maximum. We noticed in our data pull many students graduated from high school or received their GED up to 10 years ago or more! 

I should emphasize that correlation is not causation, but these results raise serious questions about how the US is structuring its student loan programs at the federal level.

Raleigh labor market #3 in US

According to the latest ratings in Forbes, Raleigh clocks in as the #3 labor market in the US out of 150 metropolitan areas.  Yet another reason to come here to get your MBA!

Walmart boosts wages

Big news from Walmart, on top of falling prices we now have rising wages!  Today the nation's largest retailer announced that it was going to make sure that all of its US workers would earn at least $9 an hour by April.  According to NYT, this is likely to affect half a million employees.  It will certainly be a big boost to those earning the minimum wage.

Walmart's motivation is most likely competitive pressure.  The unemployment rate keeps dropping, which means employers are competing for fewer applicants.  Walmart's move is likely to put more pressure on firms such as Target and Home Depot to raise pay.

There also is a chance that the wage increase pay for itself.  As MBA 505 students know, a higher wage reduces turnover and thus reduces hiring and training costs.  A higher wage also should be associated with higher standards for individual productivity.

MBA alum recognized by CNN Money

Scott Bolin, an NC State Jenkins MBA from the class of 2012, is the subject of a CNN Money story on Five Startups that are Reimagining the World.  Scott is co-founder of Tethis, a company that has developed a way to treat wastewater.  Applications range from fracking to city sewers.  Tethis has raised almost $2 million from investors.

Scott concentrated in entrepreneurship in the MBA program and has been able to put what he has learned into practice.  Typical NC State -- Think and Do!

What we do not know about the minimum wage

We were discussing the minimum wage last week in my MBA 505 Global Economics for Managers class.  Bloomberg columnist Megan McArdle did a nice job in a recent column summarizing the economics research literature.  Did she read literally 100s of papers?  I kind of doubt it, but she reaches three main conclusions:
1) Most people have their own opinions about whether the minimum wage is a good or not so good idea and they naturally seek out and site research that supports their own opinions.  Psychologists call this confirmation bias.  As is always the case in economics, you do not have to search very hard to find a study that matches your views.  Some find big job losses, others find small job losses and one very famous study found no job losses.  Out of these 100s of papers, guess which study gets cited as hard evidence by minimum wage proponents!  (Overall, the literature seems to indicate small job losses, by the way.)
2) Historically most changes in the US minimum wage have been modest, e.g. an increase from $2.65 in 1978 to $3.35 in 1981.  Some states and cities are now contemplating much larger changes, from the current $7.25 to $15.  It is quite possible that research done on small hikes does not translate into larger ones.  For instance, automation opportunities that McDonalds would ignore at a $1 increase may be too tempting to pass up at the President's proposed $3 increase. 
3) None of the minimum wage studies have been able to deal with long term consequences, such as how many McDonalds might end up closing or and how many never open because of higher labor costs. 

Understanding the drop in the labor force

Just ran across two items from Marginal Revolution dealing with the drop in the labor force participation rate.  Stanford econ prof Robert Hall has taken a careful look at personal and household factors and has found that most of the drop has taken place among teens and young adults.  More intriguing is the finding that the drop is greater among households in the upper half of the income distribution than the lower half, casting doubt on the theory that more generous income maintenance programs (food stamps and unemployment insurance would be the most likely culprits) are driving the shrinkage of the labor force.

A recent article in BloombergBusinessweek reaches a simular conclusion.  Young people in high income households are staying in school longer and more of them are not working.  The article also notes the growing share of the labor force claiming disability benefits; these individuals are unlikely to return to work even if the unemployment rate dips below 5 percent.

NC State Online MBA ranked #9 by US News

What a way to start the year -- US News announced yesterday that NC State's online Jenkins MBA program ranked #9 in the US.  This is the first top ten ranking for any platform of our MBA program. A year ago the online MBA program was ranked #36.

NC State's overall score was based on four components: student services and technology (#13), student engagement (#13), admissions selectivity (#16), faculty credentials and training (#69) and peer reputation (no rank reported).

What were some of the secrets to our success?  Our student retention and graduation rates have been near 100%, so that definitely gave us a leg up on the student engagement score.  As is the case with our full-time and Professional Evening platforms, our online student credentials are quite high, especially in terms of work experience.  The faculty score is a bit of a head-scratcher -- I have a hard time believing NC State and UNC-Chapel Hill (#120 on faculty credentials) are really behind Gardner-Webb and the University of the Cumberlands on this dimension.

Kudos as well to UNC-Chapel Hill for being tied with Indiana and Temple for #1.  Both of our programs have come a long way in just three years (we both started in 2012).  North Carolina residents have two outstanding choices.  Compare the programs, compare the costs, and decide which best fits your needs!

November job numbers: Let's party like its 1999!

I have always been cautious about making too much out of one jobs report, but the numbers reported last Friday merit serious attention.  We now have a string of consecutive months with strong increases in employment.  Unless the last 20 days of December turn out to be an unforeseen disaster, 2014 will be the best year for job growth since 1999.  

Two more reasons for optimism:
1) Wage growth is becoming more widespread.  More jobs is nice; more people making more money is even nicer.
2) The unemployment rate did not go down.  This is good news because it means that more people have entered the labor force looking for jobs.

Supply and demand for truckers

Spending the morning at the NC State Poole College of Management's semi-annual Supply Chain Resource Cooperative meeting.  Lots of great student projects for companies like CAT, Duke Energy, GSK, MetLife and others.

One topic that has come up repeatedly is the shortage of truckers and the increasing difficulty firms are having with this critical transportation mode.  At the same time, the percentage of young people who are participating in the labor force is at a 30 year low.

So what is stopping young people (or even not so young) from entering the profession?  (I have posted on this topic before.) Lots of theories were offered.  Part of the story is that training is expensive to obtain (but there are student loans); another part is that many potential job candidates cannot pass background checks and drug tests (maybe, but I would like to see some numbers).  One new theory offered by Jason Schenker (economist and regular SCRC speaker) -- Xbox addiction.

Labor market impact of immigration exec order

Legal analyses of the President's executive order on immigration are a dime a dozen; economic analyses  are much rarer (this WSJ piece is the only one I have seen).  The courts and voters will ultimately work out the legal end, so what are the economic takeaways?

1) Most illegal immigrants face skill and language barriers in the labor market and end up taking relatively unskilled jobs.  The increased supply of such labor leads to lower wages for natives who compete in the same markets.  Most economic estimates find the wage impact is modest (a 10% increase supply leads to a 2-4% cut in wages for natives), but tell that to someone who is having trouble making ends meet.  

2) Do not be surprised to see the rate of illegal immigration accelerate since the order could be reversed on Inauguration Day 2017.  But wait, those who cross borders after the order aren't covered, right?  True, but perception is everything.  Do you seriously believe that someone in a dirt poor village in Guatemala thinks the odds of being deported have gone up?  What matters is what potential immigrants believe, not what the order actually says.  

3) To the extent that employers have used fear of deportation to keep illegals from quitting to find a better job, the order should open up some mobility options.  Illegals who have learned valuable skills and who speak/write decent English will now start competing with more skilled natives.  

4) The most critical immigration issue is making it easier for highly educated STEM students to stay in the US.  The President punted on this one.  

Obama pushes for net neutrality

The FCC has been deliberating for some time about whether and how the internet should be regulated by the federal government.  President Obama made a pitch on Monday for heightened regulation, asking the FCC to regulate the internet as if it were an electrical utility or a phone company.

NYT blogger Eduardo Porter gives a somewhat balanced view of the pros and cons of net neutrality.  Net neut advocates worry that monopolistic ISPs will control through pricing what content becomes available.  Net neut opponents point out that one needs some mechanism to ration scarce capacity.  Since Netflix alone accounts for 30% or more of internet traffic at peak periods, they argue that Netflix directly (and its customers indirectly) should pay for the fast access needed to stream movies.
An even bigger concern is what a regulated internet do to incentives for investing in further capacity.

My take: this argument is another classic case of who do you trust more to act in customers interest -- a federal regulatory agency or a less than perfectly competitive market?  Today in Raleigh, Time Warner and AT&T only have to compete with each other for USP business.  But over time there will be more competition, especially if Google Fiber decides to play.  I think I will take my chances with the market!

NC State full-time MBA climbs to #54 in Businessweek rankings

More great news on the rankings front for NC State's Jenkins MBA program!  Bloomberg Businessweek's ranking of full-time programs just came out and we placed #54 in the US.  There were 85 schools ranked.  NC State was just behind Georgia, UC San Diego, Boston College, and George Washington and just ahead of Tennessee, Florida International, Boston University, and Babson.

This year's ranking represents a dramatic turnaround from two years ago.  Bloomberg Businessweek is very selective about which schools are deemed eligible to be ranked.  In 2012 we were pleased to be on the list for the first time (at #63); that was an important milestone for the program.  We were not as pleased with our position on the list (63 of the 80 invited schools had high enough response rates from student and employer surveys to be listed).

The 2014 ranking is based on a weighted average of three components: (1) student satisfaction with the program, (2) employer satisfaction with the graduates and (3) faculty research.  NC State's MBA placed #45 in student satisfaction, #60 in employer satisfaction, and #71 in research.

As an MBA program that only has been in existence for 12 years, we have come a very long way.  We have been on quite the rankings roll over the last year:

• #15 supply chain MBA, Gartner
• #17 online MBA, Poets and Quants
• #20 part-time MBA, Bloomberg Businessweek
• #36 online MBA, US News
• #61 part-time MBA, US News
• #65 full-time MBA, US News

Kudos to the alums, faculty, staff and students in the NC State Jenkins MBA community for making this happen!  Our focus on innovation, experiential learning, and value is getting the recognition it has long deserved.

Even health economists have trouble choosing the right plan

Austin Frakt has a PhD in statistical and applied mathematics from MIT and has published in the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association.  In other words, a real intellectual heavyweight.  Yet he confesses in an NYT blog post: "I am a health economist, and I cannot rationally select a health plan."

The reasons are pretty simple.  First, the plans are maddeningly complex.  It is relatively easy to see the rates, deductibles and copays (I am not saying easy, just easy compared to what comes next) but very tough to figure out what you are actually buying.  Which medical conditions are covered and which are not?  If you need medical services, which providers are included in the network covered by the plan?

Second, you must buy the plan based on a forecast of what health services you think you will need in the coming year.  Some are predictable (e.g., annual checkups) but many (perhaps most) are not.

Expect this issue to receive more attention in the future as more and more companies get out of the business of providing employee health insurance.  Today's WSJ has a piece on how more and more small companies are doing this.

#WhyMBA competition @ BusinessWeek

As a lead-in to its full-time MBA rankings announcement Nov. 11, Bloomberg Businessweek has launched a #WhyMBA competition on Twitter.  Students and alums at all MBA programs have been encouraged to post tweets explaining what makes their school special.  Schools are ranked on tweet volume; right now NC State's Jenkins MBA is #57.  UNC-CH is #60.

What makes NC State so special?  Great value. ROI.  Real world experience.  Community service. Click here to see all the tweets.

I encourage all members of the NC State Jenkins MBA community to join the #WhyMBA discussion.  Let's aim for top 50 for both the tweet count and the actual program ranking!

Wake Forest drops full-time MBA program

Wake Forest announced Wednesday that it will no longer admit students to its full-time MBA program.  The class admitted this fall will finish in spring 2016.  Faculty will be redeployed to other programs -- undergraduate business, a one year MA in Management, and the Professional MBA.

Like many other smaller MBA programs, WF had seen a significant drop in enrollment, from 240 in the 1990s to 114 now.  With better growth opportunities in the evening and Saturday MBA, the school decided to focus its resources on programs with more upside potential.

Poets and Quants interviewed WF dean Charles Iacovou:

Asked why he believes there is declining interest in full-time MBA programs, Iacovou cited the proliferation of one-year specialized master’s degrees and the increasing demand for more flexible programs. “The change is coming from the students themselves. They are choosing to receive an MBA differently than they had. Many of them don’t want to walk away from income or they choose to get more specialized degrees." 

Two reactions:  

1) I am not surprised to see a well-regarded school drop its full-time MBA program.  The market remains strong for the 15-20 largest schools but the remainder are fighting over a shrinking pool of applicants.  I am surprised that WF made this decision when it did, just after moving into a new facility.  But they will have company.  Soon.

2) NC State has long relied on Working Professionals who want classes in the evening and online.  We are looking to create a more flexible program where students can take both face-to-face and online classes as needed.  

A first sign of wage growth

Numbers about the labor market continue to send mixed messages.  The unemployment rate is down to 5.9 percent, a level last seen in summer 2008.  In contrast the employment-population ratio dropped from 63 per cent in early 2008 to 58.5 percent by fall 2009 and has not recovered since (still at 59.0 percent).  So is the labor market back to full employment, as the unemployment data indicate, or is there still a significant excess supply of potential workers?

A key signal, many observers feel, is what will happen to wages as output expands.  If those out of the labor force are really just like the unemployed, employers will be able to fill new positions without having to raise salaries.  On the other hand, if those who have left are out for good and we really are near full employment, then salaries will need to increase.

It is too early to know which interpretation will turn out to be correct.  Last week WSJ reported rising "manufacturing wages ... in some major industrial states as shortages of certain skills ... force more companies to pay up to attract and retain workers."

However, most jobs are in the service sector.  When we hear about Walmart having trouble getting greeters and cashiers, we will know for sure that the labor market is getting near capacity.

N&O features NC State MBA career coach John Hutchings

Today's Raleigh N&O has a long story providing advice about how to work a job fair.  The first person quoted and the person who appeared to be quoted the most (because he is THE expert) is our own John Hutchings, associate director of career development in the NC State Jenkins MBA.

Career development support is a key difference between a good MBA program and a great one.  Most MBA programs for part-time students provide little, if any, of this support.  John has been with NC State's MBA program for six years and he has become the go-to guy for career advice for working professional MBAs.

Going to a career fair soon?  John has the following pointers:

• Research carefully the companies you are interested in.  Don't just look at the web page; use Linked In to network with employees.
• Dress professionally, even if the interviewers are wearing polo shirts.  
• Tailor your resume for each company that you are excited about contacting.  

How soon before we choose our own cable bundle?

The recent announcements by CBS and HBO to start selling content directly to consumers mark the beginning of the end for the bundling of cable TV stations.  Now consumers can choose between different tiers of programming but are locked into all channels within a tier.  Time Warner Cable in Cary NC has starter TV with 20+ channels (mostly local channels and CSPAN), standard TV with 70+ channels and preferred TV with 200+ channels.

The average person ends up paying for lots of channels that are never watched.  Cable cutters have moved to Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Prime.  These outlets provide plenty of content but they do not include (1) live sports and (2) the latest shows on premium channels.  This is now changing; it will not be long before the other major networks and premium channels match CBS and HBO.

The tough question: will buying the stations you want a la carte save you money?  This WSJ piece argues that the answer will be yes in a single person household where only a few channels get watched.  But in a multi-generational household with varying tastes, the old cable bundle may start to look pretty good.

Another key issue: households still need an internet connection to watch online content, even if they drop cable.  Is there enough competition between cable, DSL and satellite broadband services to keep internet subscription costs down?  If not, cable companies will raise their fees for internet service to make up for lost revenue from cable channels.

Finally, if cable cutting becomes widespread then expect many channels to vanish (will we be able to survive without VH1 Classic?) and others have to raise prices significantly to cover costs. ESPN collects about $5.50 from every cable customer, regardless of whether they ever watch it.  The unbundled version will create pain: either it will end up costing a lot more or college and professional sports may have to learn to get by on less revenue.

Amazon security vs. worker rights -- which will give?

The Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday on whether Amazon should be required to pay workers for time they spend in line going through security clearances as they leave work (BBW account here).  Right now this time is unpaid and workers complain of wait times of up to 30 minutes.  Since Amazon does not have to compensate its workers for this time, it has no incentive to invest in quicker, more expensive inspection techniques.  Interestingly, the Obama administration is supporting Amazon!

There is no legal precedent that readily applies.  Workers cannot be paid for commuting time, which makes sense because workers make choices about how close they live to their job.  Workers have no choice about the inspections, a factor that may weigh in their favor.  But of course airport passengers have no choice about the TSA!

A key issue, BBW argues, is whether the time in line is "integral and indispensable" to essential work activities.  Butchers have to be paid for time spent sharpening knives; in some occupations where workers are exposed to hazardous materials, workers get paid for time spent cleaning up.

Apparently Amazon has other unique workplace policies, such as no lipstick and no watches, because of their concern about employee theft.  

What does the future hold for full-time MBAs outside the top 20?

In an interview with P&Q, outgoing Pitt dean John Delaney thinks the future will not be pretty.   He sees a lot of programs with 60 or fewer students total and questions their ability to survive.  The applicant pool keeps getting smaller and younger.  Many of these schools are offering financial aid to most (and in a few cases, ALL) of their full-timers.   Those that do not have a generous alumni base or a successful exec ed revenue stream will have trouble maintaining this level of aid support.

Tough question: what will determine which programs fold and which prosper?  I see three factors:
#1) Location: Some very good universities are located in very remote areas.  This is a hindrance for an MBA program where networking with the business community is a key element of the degree's ROI.
#2) Differentiation: All too many MBA programs are clones of each other.  Could you tell the difference between the Georgetown and Georgia MBA programs if you just looked at the list of courses and requirements?
#3) Experiential learning: Programs that focus on textbooks and historical cases will lose market share to those where students work in teams that consult with real companies on live cases.  The students with hands-on experience will be better trained and will have better networking opportunities.

NC State's Jenkins MBA is well-positioned on all three fronts.  We are located in one of the best places to live and work in the country.  We have followed a differentiation strategy focusing on innovation.  And the program is extremely experiential, perhaps more so than any other program in the country.  Maybe that is why we are rising in the rankings and enrollment numbers for 2015 are looking very, very good?