But whatever the data's academic value, scholars like Owens find themselves struggling to convince companies to turn over the information.
Yes, many smaller, perhaps less-known private colleges still offer academic merit aid of substantial value.
But what of the role of the investment bankers who advised companies to acquire and merge, despite a wealth of academic evidence that mergers destroy value for shareholders in the acquiring company?
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Liberal Democrat education spokesman Phil Willis said ministers had "abandoned the fundamental principle" of making academic and vocational qualifications of equal value.
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The academic research supporting small-cap value exposure is robust.
The answer can be found by examining the incentives and value systems under which modern academic scientists operate.
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The Coach Dossier even goes into Academic Performance Rankings, further strengthening the value of this tool for athletic departments that are either looking to hire or considering whether to retain a coach.
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It was during those hard times that Harvard combined cautious asset management with a strategy of adding genuine value in the form of improved academic quality.
"As the Government goes down the route of championing vocational education they need to make their mind up as to whether all qualifications are of value, or if it is simply particular academic subjects which carry weight when judging a school, " said general secretary Christine Blower.
MIT, along with other academic shrines, may do all this while preserving the value of what it really sells: spots in the lecture hall and dorm rooms, the chance to interact face-to-face with a prestigious faculty and like-minded students and, a golden credential, the MIT diploma.
Education director at Civitas, Anastasia de Waal, who has campaigned for the information to be made public told the TES that academic subjects were being replaced with qualifications of "extremely questionable value".
University of Nairobi academic Herman Manyora told the BBC the debate was of little value as Kenyan had an insignificant middle-class that would have been influenced by the performance of some of the candidates.
Furthermore, those who pursue additional education for very defined goals (whether vocational, academic, etc.) certainly have some idea of the value of education: they know (or at least expect) actual benefits to accrue as a result of their study.
So too, due to the department's academic inadequacy, the committee claimed its master's program's "value...is doubtful, " and said that the faculty could not adequately educate doctoral students.
To give two high-profile examples, Ibbotson and Associates and the academic duo of Eugene Fama and Kenneth French did similar studies that found that value stocks, as measured by low price-to-book ratios, outperform growth stocks over the long run.
Much of the academic research that has been done in recent years demonstrates that private equity creates real value in the portfolio companies in which it invests, as well as giving investors the possibility of high returns.
Those who have sought education, whether academic or practical, and who have through their own effort pushed themselves up the value-creation ladder, are increasingly mastering information tools that let them do or outsource the work of many.
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Since value added from obtaining a college education is uncertain, competition between institutions is driven by academic reputation.
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