Bill Bates

The Enrollment Cliff Meets the Intelligence Economy For more than a decade, leaders in higher education have been preparing for what is often called the demographic cliff.

My latest newsletter piece explores the future of higher education in light of declining enrollment and AI-inspired career skepticism. bistromathic.substack.com/p/the-enroll...

A Lost Generation of Scientists The Risk Profile of Choosing Science Is Flashing Red

A lost generation of scientists. bistromathic.substack.com/p/a-lost-gen...

Ten Higher Education Stories That Defined 2025 The Roller Coaster Year That Reshaped Higher Education

A year of turbulence for higher education. bistromathic.substack.com/p/ten-higher...

Bill Bates (@bistromathic) As an alumnus of Cornell, I was interested in their decision to cut a deal with the Trump Administration. I’m still not sure it was the right decision, but it was an understandable one.

substack.com/@bistromathi...

I actually think Cornell cut a pretty good deal with the federal government

The Cost of College Is Broken (and So Is the Math) Why the real problem isn’t that people misunderstand the cost of going to college—it’s that the system has become opaque.

I revisited an earlier article on the cost of college in light of the Pew Research survey this week that showed 70% of the public believing higher education is headed in the wrong direction. bistromathic.substack.com/p/the-cost-o...

This echoes a recent post I put up regarding how slowly dollars are getting out the door at federal science agencies. substack.com/@bistromathi...

The Conservative Crisis in Academia Is ideological imbalance inevitable?

And here’s the piece on the conservative imbalance in academia. bistromathic.substack.com/p/the-conser...

Dropping a new article tomorrow on the lack of conservatives in academia. And, of course, who’s to blame. substack.com/@bistromathic

Kicked Out The National Science Foundation just got evicted. Did America’s long-term thinking go with it?

The National Science Foundation was kicked out of its headquarters last week. What does this say about our regard for science and long term investments in our future. Hint--it's not good. open.substack.com/pub/bistroma...

College Is Affordable With a little research and reason, most students can get that degree and not break the bank

You can afford college!! bistromathic.substack.com/p/college-is...

The National Science Foundation is being kicked out of its headquarters so HUD can move out of DC. This has been about as bad a year as possible for an agency that for seven decades has been a crown jewel for United States competitiveness.

The Joy of Dumb Research From free-falling cats to ticklish rats, here's what happens when you fund curiosity—even when it sounds ridiculous.

Ready for some crazy research?! bistromathic.substack.com/p/the-joy-of...

Bill Bates on Substack Just dropped my first podcast episode — The National Science Foundation’s Missing $12 billion. The NSF funds long term scientific research that brought us such innovations as GPS, the Internet, lasers...

substack.com/@bistromathi...

Let the Bell Labs Dream Die Nostalgia Isn’t a National Research Strategy

Is a new Bell Labs the answer? bistromathic.substack.com/p/let-the-be...

What If We Assume Harvard’s Value Can we build up rather than break down?

What if we sought to build up our universities instead of tear them down? bistromathic.substack.com/p/what-if-we...

Deterring the Best and Brightest The Double-Edged Debate Over Foreign Students in U.S. Higher Education

Cut off international students, reduce research funding, cut back on outreach. 🧠✨ My latest dive into why panic will not keep America on top. #HigherEd #Policy #Innovation #immigration bistromathic.substack.com/p/deterring-...

Follow the Vision, Not the Budget The White House Science Advisor called for a new golden age—Congress must embrace the words and ignore the proposed budget.

Last week, the WH Science Advisor called for a new Golden Age of Innovation, but the Administration's budget proposals tell a different story. bistromathic.substack.com/p/follow-the...

House approves Trump’s massive tax and immigration package A vote on Trump’s big budget bill could come early Thursday morning. The legislation would extend tax cuts and add billions in new spending – and trillions in debt.

Breaking news: House Republicans approved President Trump’s sprawling tax and immigration agenda Thursday morning, sending to the Senate legislation that the GOP hopes will transform the federal government.

Trump’s NIH And NSF Cuts Estimated To Cost The U.S. Economy $10 Billion Annually Economists find public R&D drives U.S. productivity growth — and pays for itself

Bottom line: the proposed NIH & NSF cuts alone would eventually strip at least $10 billion per year from U.S. output.

www.forbes.com/sites/johndr...

A College Crisis of Commitments Is Colliding with Cuts to Capital Students, parents, state legislators, and the federal government all want higher ed to do more with less.

We want colleges to retain students, comply with federal law, provide mental health, and protect national security… then we call the people doing that “bloat.” The problem isn’t the staff, it’s the expectations.
“A Culprit Behind College Closures”
bistromathic.substack.com/p/a-college-...

Table showing the massive cuts in federal science funding for EPA- 54.5%, NASA -24%. NOAA - 24%, NSF -56%, USGS- 38% etc.

This is just a partial glimpse of the destruction of American science by Trump and the GOP.

The Case for Failure Budget cuts threaten scientific breakthroughs at a time when we should be rewarding risk

We don’t get the next mRNA vaccine or moon landing without risk. Short-term grants. Political landmines. Shrinking budgets. Big bets are disappearing—and so are possible breakthroughs.
bistromathic.substack.com/p/the-case-f...
#science #risk #innovation #NSF #NIH #research #bluesky

I don’t even understand what the theoretical end game is here. All I’m seeing are cuts to funding and RiFs—not any re-prioritization or increased support for new priorities.

As the US Cuts Scientific Talent, Europe Launches an Initiative to Attract It The Choose Europe for Science program will invest more than half a billion dollars between 2025 and 2027 to recruit researchers and scientists—especially from the United States.

The Choose Europe for Science program will invest more than half a billion dollars between 2025 and 2027 to recruit researchers and scientists—especially from the United States. www.wired.com/story/us-cut...

Universities sue over National Science Foundation funding cuts A coalition of universities and corresponding organizations sued the National Science Foundation (NSF) on Monday over slated funding cuts to schools.  The federal agency said Friday it would no lon…

What’s so frustrating is that these reductions in indirect costs are not being redirected to research, but just arbitrarily cut from the research enterprise. thehill.com/homenews/adm...

Mind the Innovation Gap What the FY2026 Budget Says About America’s Commitment to Science

In my latest article, I ask the question, how far does the latest budget request stray from what Congress has authorized for science over the years. Spoiler--a lot. open.substack.com/pub/bistroma...

$7 Billion in Missing Science Funding The Full Year Funding Bill Congress Passed Continues the Flat Funding of Research

I may need to update this article after today’s White House budget release. substack.com/@bistromathi...

Santa Monica

#santamonica

Beyond ROI: Rethinking What We Value in Higher Education If we only measure what’s easy to count, we risk losing what makes higher education valuable in the first place.

A recent EO looks to upend college accreditation and put the focus squarely on ROI. In my latest article I explore why that is too narrow an approach to a valid concern. bistromathic.substack.com/p/beyond-roi...

Day by day, how Trump is roiling science and health STAT is tracking, day by day, what's happened in the words of science and health during the first months of the Trump administration.

I made a timeline of all the actions in Trump's (almost) first 100 days that have upended science and health. It was staggering to me to see it all in one place, even though I reported on many on these events. www.statnews.com/2025/04/24/t...