Surely "massive open online course" (MOOC) has one of the ugliest acronyms of recent years, lacking the deliberate playfulness of Yahoo (Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle) or the droll shoulder shrug suggested by the word "snafu" (Situation Normal, All Fouled Up). The author is not a complete neophyte to online…

Academic scholarship is a business, and just like any other business, it is driven largely by the incentive for profit. Those profits may or may not be financial in nature, but the potential for reward, whether it is measured in terms of a promotion or of intellectual property, underlies whatever people do in higher education. Academics don't…

According to a survey conducted by the Association of University Technology Managers, at least two dozen universities each earned more than $10-million from their licensing of rights to new drugs, software, and other inventions in the 2005 fiscal year. The number of institutions creating large numbers of spinoff companies based on their…

The top 100 institutions in total federal obligations for fiscal 1986 are listed showing research and development obligations as well as total federal obligations. (MLW)

The top 100 institutions in total federal obligations for fiscal 1987 in research and development are presented. Amounts shown represent total obligations from 15 federal agencies that accounted for about 95 percent of all federal obligations to universities and colleges in the United States. (MLW)

Lee Iacocca is steering his alma mater's drive to raise money to develop a facility for linking the university's two campuses, housing programs on regional and national economic development, and establishing an institute for research on economic competitiveness. (MSE)

Colleges universities, and nonprofit organizations received 2.1 billion dollars in Department of Defense contract funds for research, development, testing, and evaluation in fiscal 1984. Tables of the 1984 figures that list the top contractors are presented. (MLW)

As research equipment becomes more sophisticated and expensive, and as the number of scientists and engineers choosing academic careers shrinks, the start-up costs for recruiting researchers are skyrocketing. The cost typically includes money to provide equipment, facilities, and support needed to set up laboratories and begin research. (MLW)

Responses to four questions by 13 presidential candidates in a survey by the Council on Competitiveness is presented. Four questions covered financing college education, training and retraining, federal research and development programs, and federal support of science and technology. (MLW)

Charts and graphs present data on changes in fiscal 1996 funding for the Department of Education and other federal agencies, and tables report dollar amounts of fiscal 1995 actual spending, fiscal 1996 estimated expenses, and fiscal 1996 requested aid for student assistance, graduate support, institutional assistance, research, and other purposes.…