In fact, that bubble has begun to pop already -- that is to deflate. This particular bubble may not be as widely recognized as the financial and real estate bubbles were, yet it has been driven by the very same psychology.

If the suggestion of a bubble-like peak in higher education comes as news to you, then so will most of what you're about to read. Even the most well-informed people haven't spotted the early deflation of this bubble, because virtually no traditional media outlet ever understood that bubble for what it was to start with.

Not so in The Socionomist. In a continuation of its ground-breaking, February 2011 education study, the just-published March issue presents

The Education Industry Is Traversing

A Broad, Multi-Decade Social Mood Peak

Most (or all) of what this issue reveals about the trend in higher education may catch you unaware -- yet the case behind the carefully-researched facts and evidence will speak for itself. We believe this overlooked trend is relevant enough to social mood generally to deserve a follow-up, and there may be more to come. Judge for yourself:

• The coming "affordable alternative" in higher education: A year ago The Socionomist said traditional institutions risked losing control of how education was made and distributed, much as the music and movie industry had lost control of their content. Seven months later The New Times said exactly the same thing. Now learn where and how far this "creative destruction" trend in higher education will go.

• Unhappy teachers may soon leave in droves; "good" education is a growing source of resentment toward one socio-economic class; a U.S. president who wants college education for all is belittled by his political opponents. Did a turn in social mood really produce this great a shift in society's attitude toward education? The Socionomist both asks and answers this critical question.

• An outbreak of grade inflation-cheating scandals in large high school districts has spread across the country, with the "enhanced performance" involving collusion from students to classroom teachers to a district chancellor. And the Claremont College SAT-inflation story was a first at the university level. Now read what could be the next major story in "the era of the academic scandal."

• Does academic performance decline when social mood turns negative? Consider what the preliminary evidence says about this provocative question.

• If an education "bubble" strikes you as far-fetched, you may well change your mind upon discovering the sheer scale of student debt in the U.S. today (one telling fact: seven in ten student loan debtors are over the age of 30).

• Here's another mind-changing truth about higher education: Tuition costs have been climbing for three centuries (and we have the chart to prove it). Is this trend sustainable -- especially when most states are cutting education budgets even as universities give double-digit pay raises to deans and vice-presidents?

• You've heard of "sugar daddies," but have you heard about education "sugar babies"? Even we were caught off guard by this one...

Here's what else you'll discover in the current Socionomist:

• Black Wedding Gowns - Not Just for Goths Anymore: This ain't the fairy-tale wedding fashion your grandmother had in mind. See (and read) it to believe it...


• In Search of Signals: The team of academics now using socionomic-based forecasting models that has correctly anticipated stock market moves, political instability in the Persian Gulf, and the most-popular Internet search topics.

The Socionomist helps you step away from the herd. The just-published issue can be on your computer screen in minutes, via a RISK-FREE subscription (order below).

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