BRFR Cake Stop 'breaking news' miscellany

[briantrumpet]

Slippery slope. More like a pre soaped water slide, actually.

I'm not sure what @PurplePenguin means by 'privatised US universities' anyway.

https://scottgibb.substack.com/p/who-owns-americas-universities

I can't see any mention of them being owned by big businesses or private equity. In fact, it looks all terribly opaque and archaic.

Here's the response to my Gemini question about the ownership model of Ivy League universities:

All eight Ivy League institutions are private, non-profit corporations. They have no private owners, shareholders, or equity holders. Instead, they operate as charitable educational institutions held in trust for the public good and governed by independent boards.
The structure of their ownership and governance model consists of four core components:

1. Board of Trustees (Fiduciary Ownership)​

Legal authority and ultimate custodianship rest with a Board of Trustees (also referred to as the Board of Regents, Corporation, or Fellows depending on the school).

• Role: Trustees act as fiduciaries rather than financial owners. They hold legal title to university property and assets strictly to fulfill the university’s institutional mission.
• Composition: Members typically include alumni, donors, educational leaders, and industry executives who serve without financial equity in the institution.

2. Non-Profit Corporate Charters​

Each Ivy League school operates under a legal charter granted by its respective state (or, in colonial times, the British Crown).

• Charitable Status: They hold federal 501(c)(3) non-profit status in the United States.
• Reinvestment: Any operating surplus generated through tuition, research grants, or investments cannot be distributed as profits. It must be reinvested directly back into university operations, research, financial aid, and facilities.

3. Endowment Management​

Ivy League universities hold massive institutional funds managed in perpetuity.

• Trust Principles: Endowments consist of thousands of individual restricted funds given by donors.
• Legal Oversight: The capital must be managed according to state trust laws (such as the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act) and donor intent. Trustees cannot liquidate or spend down the core capital arbitrarily; they only spend a controlled percentage (typically 4–5% annually) of investment returns.

4. Legal Protection & Autonomy​

In 1819, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling Dartmouth College v. Woodward established that private university charters are protected contracts that state governments cannot unilaterally alter or seize. This guarantees complete institutional autonomy from public government ownership.

 

[First Aspect]

I'm not sure what @PurplePenguin means by 'privatised US universities' anyway.

https://scottgibb.substack.com/p/who-owns-americas-universities

I can't see any mention of them being owned by big businesses or private equity. In fact, it looks all terribly opaque and archaic.

Here's the response to my Gemini question about the ownership model of Ivy League universities:

Perhaps I have skipped a step. All of the Ivy Leagues are astronomically expensive. If you do this in the UK, if the funding is the same you will end up in the same place so there is no point. So if it happens, it creates pressure for other funding options. Perhaps more paid places from overseas. Sponsorship perhaps. Or perhaps just higher fees. Or different subjects. Science is expensive, for examples.

All this aside, there are vast numbers of other universities with more of an agenda in the US. Religious, mostly.

 

[briantrumpet]

Perhaps I have skipped a step. All of the Ivy Leagues are astronomically expensive. If you do this in the UK, if the funding is the same you will end up in the same place so there is no point. So if it happens, it creates pressure for other funding options. Perhaps more paid places from overseas. Sponsorship perhaps. Or perhaps just higher fees. Or different subjects. Science is expensive, for examples.

All this aside, there are vast numbers of other universities with more of an agenda in the US. Religious, mostly.

I asked about Ivy League universities, as they are the ones who have the international reputation, which I think PP was saying shows that 'privatised universities' could do well. They obviously have shedloads of money from various sources, not least very rich parents who can afford $62,226 yearly tuition fees for Harvard, say. Meanwhile, UK universities have had to get by on under £10k for UK students, a rate dictated by government. Given that, it's amazing that UK universities have held up so well in international terms.

 

[Rusty Nails]

What is it about 52/48?

View attachment 16719

I went from 52 to 50 a few years back, but the hills seem a lot steeper now so am considering going to 48.

Is that what you mean by 52 and 48?