More and more companies are making the change to cloud services for their business. While there are many advantages to the cloud, these services can also lead to vulnerability and security threats. Many cloud services include security systems such as a network TAP and integrated security, however, there are still new ways to get around these security programs. Today’s successful malware writers across the globe are highly motivated by money and are able to adjust their technical capabilities to evade the latest security technology and current industry best practices.

In order to protect your business and assets from cyber security threats, it’s important that you are familiar with the possible risks. Some important things to know about Crimeware-as-a-Service programs include the evolution of cybercrime, current hacking methods, and industry best practices.

 

Evolution of Cybercrime

Starting with hackers who wrote custom code to exploit vulnerabilities, then shifting to making these codes accessible to script kiddies, to currently providing full on Crimeware-as-a-Service programs, the cybercriminal world has greatly expanded and increased its efforts over time. The evolution of cybercrime follows a similar pattern to those that have been previously seen in business model evolution. This adjustment of technology stacks and revenue models as a service by cyber criminals shouldn’t come across as a surprise Crimeware, stolen data, and other salable items on the Dark Web are increasingly being sold as a service. These cyber criminals offer their crimeware services to clients in the same way that the average software vendor does. Cyber hacking has reached a point where the typical exploit kit is completely offered on a regular basis. The subscription prices for these kits follow a number of trends including one to the cyber black market: takedowns and mysterious disappearances of criminal competition.

Just as legitimate service provides a la carte selections and add-ons to a buyer’s needs, it is the same with crimeware services. Researchers have detailed a modular botnet service that offers up several different options. These services are fronted with highly professional and user-friendly management panels. Higher modular malware covers everything from browser password stealing and keylogging to a variety of Distributed Denial of Service attack techniques through crypto currence wallet stealing.

Cybercrime takes advantage of trends, knowing that one in three people will open their email. Crimeware-as-a-Service now makes this accessible to anyone who wants to hack someone or something else. Spear-phishng with weaponized documents and other techniques are already the popular tactic used by most cyber attackers because of the high success rate. While previously, one only needed nominal hacker skills to launch such an attack, the recent discovery of Crimeware-as-a-Service is making cyber crime accessible and easy for anyone with a Bitcoin wallet.

 

Current Methods

The current weapon of choice in cybercrime today is spear-phishing with Microsoft Office document attachments. Weaponized documents arrive via email as a benign attachment, such as a Word document or an Excel project. The attack runs across embedded in these programs and to drops a keylogger. When the target or person opens the attachment it tends to present itself as a normal-looking document on their screen but simultaneously works to compromise their machine with a virus.

Weaponized document attachments present severe problems for most companies and businesses. The reason is quite simple: people in an organization are more likely to open an attachment regardless of how much security training an organization does, hence why this form of cyber hacking is easiest and most successful. Most of these attacks ask users to enable macros, which is automatically done once they’ve committed to opening the document. This just means that vulnerability isn’t needed, only a macro code. As a consequence, these documents do not auto-detonate in company security programs, such as network sandboxes, as many programs check for presence of other documents to ensure it is a user machine.

 

Industry Best Practices

Several organizations have been struggling with these weaponized document spear-phishing attacks and other cyber hacking methods, however, these breaches can be prevented. Security teams should follow industry best practices, including the use of a multi factor authentication program, continuous collection of system logs, and not reusing passwords. In addition to these few examples, there are many ways to prevent a cyber security breach, and business owners and decision makers should make it an effort to familiarize themselves with these methods.

Organizations and companies who haven’t focused as much as they should on this threat, need to begin doing so as soon as possible. Isolation automatically identifies any links or attachments delivered via email so the attacker never has to be able to do any real damage themselves. Endpoint protection techniques, such as behavioral monitoring and isolation, can help in stopping weaponized documents from malware , machine learning, isolation, and whatever other techniques hackers use.

 

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Effective communication is essential to any good relationship. Business relationships are no exception. It is just as important for you to have effective B2B communications as it is to have efficient Business-to-Customer communications. By elevating the level of how you communicate with other companies from being only good and you will see many more . Below are a few components of communication that possibly could help your strategy become great.

Bad Writing Can Make a Bad Impression

Do you communicate with other companies via the phone mostly and use written or typed material sparingly? Or is most your communication handled non-verbally with emails or on your website or blog? Whether you rely heavily on writing or only do so from time to time, it is important that your spelling and grammar be correct. You also want what you write to be clear, meaningful, compelling, and professional from the opening sentence.

Here are a few other tips for better business writing:

• Logical structure should include a beginning, middle, and end
• Avoid too many passive verbs, like “It will be sent tomorrow”; use active ones instead, like “We will send it tomorrow.”
• Stay away from run-on sentences
• Be authentic and judiciously use humor to engage your readers
• Write in a tone that is most appropriate for your audience

Have Consistency in Your Communication Strategy Consistently

Know what it is that you are trying to say and keep on with that message always. You want to properly integrate a consistent message with every single one of the outlets you utilize for communication. These channels would include social networks, websites, emails and so forth. You do not have to use the same exact words in the messages, but the voice used across the different channels, and the point you are making should be identical.

Also, establish a regular frequency for communicating with other businesses. How often you reach out to a company is of particular importance if at any time you made promises as to the regularity of communication between the organizations. For example, if you told another business of bi-monthly communications, and instead, you reach out quarterly, then it could send the wrong message which may translate that you do not deliver on your promises.

Personify Your Business and Let Your True Colors Speak

Your communication should have a sense of personality which would allow other companies to connect with your business. Allow your organization to be colorful and lively in communication. You do not want to be another static company that fails to build trust because they cannot hear your business’ unique voice in your communications.

In business, there are four distinct company characteristics or business personalities. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is used in other areas of life to define and divide people into four basic groups of traits. Which type best describes your business?

Relational

Group situations and external relationships drive the relational company characteristic.

Dominant

An objective-focused personality, this”Type A” personality is hardworking and straightforward.

Introvert

A highly analytical business personality, an introvert would give something much thought before taking any action, likes facts and data, and is rational.

Expressive

This extroverted personality type is competitive, a natural at sales, and due to an enthusiastic nature and outgoingness, would make for great training consultants or business trainers.

Switch Up the Format

You do not want to come across as boring, no matter what your business personality, when communicating with other companies. You want to provide companies with a potent media mixture. You can use webcasts, eFliers, blogs, Twitter tweets, videos, email newsletters, Facebook posts, and other mediums in an alternating or rotating way to keep your delivery fresh.

 

While what gets said may vary depending on the audience, B2B communication should not be approached differently from that of B2C communication when it comes to strategy. You can use good communications to ingratiate yourself with your connections. It may help if you remain consistent in your message and frequency, have a personal voice, use variety in the formats with which you communicate, and write error-free content. Then, like in the movie Jerry Maguire, you might have a business at “hello.”

 

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Knowing how to fully optimize your online business isn’t common knowledge. Many website owners seek expansion, want more control and streamlined processes and covet more web traffic without really knowing how to get those things. However, certain web platforms and digital tools can get your business the solutions it needs combined with the advancement you desire. Not only that, the solutions you choose don’t have to be expensive or complicated. There are plenty of simple, affordable ways to optimize your online business and increase your sales, web presence and more.

 

Create and Maintain a Social Media Presence

 

Social media is a marketing mecca for modern-day businesses, and essentially, it’s impossible for a business to grow and remain relevant without it. It gives you the ability to reach your customers and audience in a new, unique way while running promotions and ads with the guarantee that customers will see them. Plus, you can connect and interact with them in real time. So, your marketing campaigns will be more successful and you can move your customer service portal to social media.

 

Ideally, you should have this sort of online presence across multiple social media platforms and have your reps there to respond to feedback, answer questions and provide useful content. Eventually, you’ll develop a better relationship with your audience, which will lead to an increase in brand awareness, brand loyalty, customer retention, customer acquisition and successful marketing campaigns.

 

Utilize Cloud-based Software

 

A cloud-based architecture makes it easier, more efficient and more cost-effective to maintain a web presence. With cloud-based software, you can access parts of your business from any device at any time. This will ensure your site and social media profiles remain updated. It’ll also give your customers easy access to your business and vice versa. Not only that, cloud-based software will keep your data and processes secure with real-time security updates and backups.

 

Take Advantage of APIs

 

Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) allow businesses to add specific applications to certain processes, which increases their functionality. Web APIs can be used to help improve sales, invoicing, e-commerce, marketing, communication, payments, project management, security and collaboration processes. For example, a web API can be added to an e-commerce site to automatically include and update shipping rates for each customer order. In this scenario, without an API, a web developer would have to enter a shipping rate table into a web database, which is more time consuming and more expensive for the business.

 

Adding APIs is so simple that you won’t even need to hire a web developer to create these operational patches, saving even more money. Besides that, APIs can be combined with comprehensive BI Dashboards to make business operations even smoother. A Business Intelligence dashboard is a data visualization tool that shows the status of key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics for your business in real time. This means you’ll be able to easily track and monitor the performance of your website, online promotions, social media profiles, customer service, web content and more.

 

Go Mobile

 

Going mobile is a key factor in optimizing your online business. This simply means, creating a mobile-friendly website or mobile app. You could increase revenue through localization strategies or give customers instant access to promotions and other content via a mobile app. Plus, mobile functionality could demonstrate your ability to be relevant and functional through all mediums and allow your team to work on their phones or tablets. This will increase training effectiveness, communication, productivity, and efficiency. Besides that, being mobile can inspire better engagement from stakeholders.

 

Use Tools to Automate Processes

 

There are some aspects of business operations that are so time-consuming that they could slow down business and lead to a loss of revenue and reputation. However, automating certain processes like payments, billing and invoicing could allow you to focus on more important business aspects. Software can be used to take care of these processes quickly and efficiently, thus optimizing your business. It allows you to focus on the more “human aspects” of your business, such as improving user experience and interacting with customers on social media.

 

Conclusion

 

The ways to fully optimize your online business don’t stop there, you could personalize the user experience, use data analytics tools, update security systems for data, hire young talent, create new channels for revenue growth and so much more. However, optimizing an online business can seem like a lot of hard work, but it’s as simple as harnessing the tools you have, maintaining a great social media strategy and having a supportive team behind you – all to make your business more available and consumer-friendly. Today, if you can master the digital world, you can create a successful, long-term business.

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Brand awareness is a pretty big deal for companies since it has the power to increase sales if done right. The problem is finding the right ways to increase brand awareness that will effectively capture your audience. The following are a few tips that may help you re-establish your brand.

 

Humanizing the Brand

One of the best branding tools a company has is its power to humanize itself through its presence. One way you can accomplish this task is by using individual franchises, where the owners can have a presence in the local community. What you have to do is try to get franchise owners to communicate and connect with their community, which helps customers feel connected to your brand. You can do this by having your franchise owners create more community events or getting them to sponsor events that the entire community loves.

 

Engage With Customers

Customers want to be treated with respect, and they want to feel like you care about them. This is the reason you want to try to improve your communication skills. You can do this by capturing customer’s emails. The key here is to try to give past customers time and attention. Consider giving loyal customers additional discounts or similar perks to show that your brand truly appreciates their continual business. This not only improves your brand image, but it also could create better customer retention.

 

Be Committed

Customers know quality, so you need to make sure that you do not cheapen out with your campaigns. You want to make sure you invest enough money to make quality campaigns such as video ads or other marketing material. Making quality videos is not inexpensive, so make sure you only try this when you can afford it. In the meantime, you can start with other high-quality marketing materials that your franchise owners can use like good frame banner stands just as an example. The only way you are going to get people to care about your brand is if you make your campaigns look great. This is how you get people to think about and consider your brand before others.

 

Experience is Vital

If you sell pools, then the goal is to get customers to think of your pool specialist when they type in “good pool builders near me” into a search engine. One of the most effective ways to do this is to create a unique shopping experience. Customers expect certain things when shopping and are not really impressed with a regular shopping experience. What you want to do is go above and beyond to create something really special. For example, smart-pay technology allows you to charge customers from anywhere. Your employees can use a tablet or phone to help your customers check-out from anywhere in the store without standing in line.

 

Use Social Media

You cannot surf the internet too long without stumbling on a social media site. This is the experience that most web users have, meaning the likelihood of your customers and potential customers having a social media account is high. You probably have already dabbled in the social media market, but if you haven’t, make sure you start. You should also be sure to commit to this type of marketing, too. Hire professional social media marketers, and track all of your campaigns to see which one works best. You want to see a high-level of engagement.

 

These tips should help improve your brand image and awareness enough to start increasing your profits. Remember that the key is to make sure that your brand is memorable, so make sure you stick to the same colors, mascots, images, tag lines, or any other factor you use to create your brand. Helping people remember your brand is going to take some time, but patience and the right strategy should improve your chances.

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Millennials are defined as a population group of people born between the years of 1977 – 1994. Coming behind the footsteps of a population defined as Generation X (those born between the mid ‘60’s and early 70’s), millennials have profited from the societal and technological advances of those who came before them and have carved out their own unique place in society. Listed below are four markets that are booming because of millennials.

 

Cycling

Long gone are the days when riding a bicycle is considered to be an activity for children or athletes. Many millennials have chosen bicycling as an economical, eco friendly alternative to driving a car or using public transportation. Bicycle shops and cycling co-ops are thriving in major cities and small towns alike as on-road cyclists and touring groups share more of the road with motorists.

 

Bike retailers are not the only markets that are profiting from the cycling boom. Looking uniquely stylish on a bike is important to cycling enthusiasts. Custom safety gear like helmets and footwear are very popular among riders, as well as tech-forward wearables such as breathable jerseys and padded spandex shorts are flying off the shelves of retailers worldwide. What used to be a child’s casual plaything and a niche athlete’s equipment is now a burgeoning obsessions for a generation of people.

 

Craft Beer

Craft beer is generally defined as beer that is produced in small batches using organic ingredients and non-mechanized methods of productions. It is an alternative to standard commercial beer made in large batches that the typical consumer can purchase in any package store or commercial grocery chain. Craft beer breweries pride themselves in being a unique local skill that cannot be experienced in a random corner pub.

 

The amount of local craft beer breweries has grown exponentially as each business strives to offer a unique brew that satisfies even the most discerning of pallets. From IPAs, to stouts, to lagers, each brand of craft beer has its own unique flavor and often carries with it a local history that is legend to local consumers. Some craft breweries have become so popular that they offer coveted swag such as t-shirts and pint glasses that consumers can purchase to display their local brewery pride. Although some craft breweries offer their most popular brands on limited commercial basis, most die-hard craft beer fans are loyal small batch offerings that are available only in their area.

 

Vaping

Unlike the generation that preceding them, millennials did not grow up with cigarette advertisements featuring handsome men and glamorous women who touted the virtues of smoking. Instead, they grew up with warning from the Surgeon General that detailed the dangers of smoking. With warnings of lung cancer and heart disease looming overhead, they flocked to vaping, the smoking alternative that eliminates the tar and chemicals found in most tobacco products.

 

As the popularity of vaping grows, internet retailers and local shops offer vape products and accessories such as batteries, e liquid tanks, and flavored e-juices in various nicotine strengths that provide a new experience that is similar to smoking. Most major cities feature vape lounges where aficionados can experience a plethora of new flavors and blends that satisfy the discerning tastes of local vape enthusiasts as well as tourists seeking a local hometown experience.

 

Micro-Housing

As the cost of housing and utilities rose during the 2000’s, so did the interest downsized living reduced energy footsteps. The outcome of this interest is a rise in Micro-Housing – a minimalistic lifestyle that combines sustainable energy such as solar paneling with small, sensible living spaces.

 

Millennials are carving out living spaces for themselves that reduce the waste of valuable resources while creating a living space that safe and cozy. Contractors are not the only beneficiaries of this small home trend. Artisans who creature furniture created from repurposed items and materials are in high demand. Tiny homes are as unique as they are economical.

 

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In the summertime, there are more homeowners and individuals looking to buy products than ever. Sales companies take advantage of these facts with smart marketing strategies that lead to incredible sales.

 

Door to Door

Door to door sales companies are often some of the most effective in the industry. During the summer, many people stay at home in the luxury of sweet air conditioning. They will be extremely apt to open the door and listen to your sales pitch. Summer sales companies hire young marketers who are positive influences on homeowners. If you have a loud voice and are willing to make yourself noticed, you will be a prime target for sales companies. Door to door sales usually pay extremely well overall, and if your sales are high, you have the potential for further bonuses.

 

Online

Online sales companies also thrive during the summertime. Because students are out of school and are browsing the internet during their spare time, there is huge potential for sales on the web. If you are competent with computers and social media, summer sales companies will definitely want you as well. By using promotional media, businesses are able to advance their products. This system usually consists of one person pushing the advertisements and a team of workers monitoring the ad. When it reaches maximum traffic, they will include additional sales offers that are nearly irresistible.

 

Street Sales

Some summer sales companies that are affiliated with stores or malls prefer street sales as opposed to door to door sales. You will be stationed at a busy intersection where you can expose a maximum number of people to the product. This is very similar to street sales, but people come to you instead of you traveling around. When a seller makes a transaction, the funds are often redirected to the company’s stock. This system makes it easier to track gains and losses over multiple months. With the attention of such a large audience, prices can afford to be higher while maintaining the same ratio of sales to non sales. Again, the summer is a bustling period that depends on high shopping sales in the first place.

 

Statistics and logistics

In 2016, summer sales companies generated over $700 million in revenue in addition to to usual suspects of international trade. While the top summer sales companies partially crowded out the other businesses, there was still room for development and growth. A Place for Mom, Vivint Smart Home, and Allergan were the biggest profiteers overall. Sales companies have been on an upward trend in the 21st century. More and more buyers are moving away from traditional stores and looking for alternative ways to purchase goods. A survey showed that 46% of consumers were thankful that they were approached by a summer sales representative.

 

Genres

As you might imagine, outdoor products are extremely popular during the summer. Sporting goods generate some of the highest revenue out of any category. This can include soccer balls, sunscreen, and canopies. Do it yourself products are also successful. Because people have extra spare time during the summer, they are attempting large scale renovation projects. Because sales companies are so flexible, there are no worries about heavy objects or transportation issues. Consumers receive their products instantaneously. In recent years, outdoor pest control has been a surprisingly hot trend. In areas with a large amount of bugs and insects, homeowners have been seeking pest control to combat these swarms. This goes to show that any demographic and any genre is reachable with summer sales companies.

 

Conclusion

Summer sales companies include both the most famous names in the world and smaller startups looking for profit. In both cases, they rely on innovative marketing techniques and a target audience hungry for deals.

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Machine learning and artificial intelligence are in vogue right now–likely the most popular technology terms on the whole of the Internet.  The applications of these technologies have been predicted to revolutionize almost anything, from what we eat to how we show to how we process massive amounts of data in the Enterprise.

Healthcare is no exception to this rule, with physicians detecting cancer with deep learning and hospitals finding new efficiencies by using the technology, but there is a deeper need driving the adoption of machine learning technology in healthcare: the need for speed.

No, this is not an intentional, cheezy reference to a 1986 cult-classic film, it’s a real need, brought on by the Amazon problem: consumers (who are also patients) need things faster and more accurately than ever before. On a less “problem” driven note, so do health care professionals. Solving highly complex healthcare workflows and science-based challenges means that the more tasks we can transfer with confidence to computers, the better.

One still has to go to medical school or nursing school. One still has to receive ACLS certification and practice in blood draws. But the more leeway healthcare professionals and institutions have to move things online, likely the better, and it’s going to make healthcare better.

 

Preventative Care

Ever heard that adage “get a second opinion?” All too often today, that second opinion comes at either great cost, or is an iffy factoid absorbed from the Internet. When it comes to emerging healthcare issues on an individual basis, having accurate, actionable, preventative care information is crucial.

Machine learning and empower medical professionals to understand with extreme specificity the exact medical needs of a patient.

Let’s say you have a patient who comes in with high blood pressure, cellular stress and modest obesity. A machine learning algorithm can take these and all other patient data into account and create a heatmap of data that can inform a physician of their likelihood for future problems if these trends continue. This could eventually expand as deeply as familial genetic information, providing a much, much deeper patient picture than was ever possible before.

This makes preventative care more effective, and that lead to tremendous prevention of pain and suffering as well as cost savings. It simply makes sense as a broad-based application.

 

Deep Care and Research

Charges by the likes of Joe Biden and others to do big things in healthcare, such as solving cancer, are common these days. Revolutions like these are on the scale of antibiotics and vaccinations, and are considerably more complex and difficult than almost any other medical challenge tackled to date.

Machine learning is the only way forward. There is too much genetic and other data to compile or program by traditional means. Machine learning models can not just cut workloads for researchers and “deep care” physicians like oncologists down dramatically, it actually drives results that aren’t possible through human analysis.

Take clinical trials for example. Essential to the development of new drugs and treatments, there has been a century-long problem of matching trial participants with trial treatments. Machine learning can mine healthcare databases on both the drug and patient side to make this match so seamless. There is so much of this data that there is no way a given physician or trial group could hope to be more effective that a computer at this process–and it matters a lot in terms of results and outcomes.

No, we won’t solve cancer in a day this way, and we likely can’t promise remarkable results only through the application of these new technologies–but there is great confidence that they will make a difference.

 

At the Hospital

Hospitals are technology powered marvels, and machine learning is just the type of efficiency driver that they tend to adopt. From monitoring individual patient beds to streamlining management and billing, applications of machine learning could introduce cost savings and efficiencies that everyone could benefit from.

This is particularly important as we move away from the individual clinician model of medicine to group- and hospital-based physician care. How fantastic would it be to have even a scheduling system that understands patients and can help prioritize appointment setting and flow of information between departments and specialties.

The application of machine learning makes sense in so many ways. It will be interesting and exciting to see the applications and reap the benefits.

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Business owners understandably strive to conserve funds as a necessity. Frugal behavior as a business owner can help you to better manage your budget and allocate funds in the most effective way possible. However, if you are thinking about skimping on business insurance and taking your chances in an effort to save a few dollars in expenses each month, you may want to think again. There are several good reasons why a business insurance policy is a cost-effective purchase that all small business owners need to make.

 

Liability Issues Can Be Expensive

Regardless of the type of business you are involved in, you may face numerous potential liability issues on a daily basis. For example, a customer visiting your store could slip and fall. One of your drivers may get into a devastating car accident in one of your vehicles. A customer could get food poisoning eating your food. These are just a few of the issues that your business may be held liable for. Business insurance may pay for your related legal fees, and it may also pay for any expenses related to a ruling up to your coverage limits. Many liability cases result in businesses paying tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars or more. Unless your business has very deep pockets, you may not be able to afford to pay the legal fees associated with a lawsuit or the potential outcome of a liability lawsuit ruling against your company.

 

Your Income Could Be Disrupted

There are a wide range of events that could disrupt your operations. For example, if you are a sole proprietor, your livelihood may be dependent on your physical ability to work each day. However, if you are injured, you may need to take time off to recover, and you may not be able to earn income during this period of time. Perhaps your building or equipment is damaged, and the repair process takes several weeks to complete. During this time, your operations may need to cease. These are only a few of the many events that could result in the disruption of your operations and in your inability to generate income for a period of time. Your bills will continue to be due during this time, and an interruption in income generating capabilities could be devastating. Business insurance may provide you with supplemental income for a period of time while you navigate through the issue. This way, you can pay your bills while you work to get operations back online.

 

Your Customers or Employees Could Damage Your Leased Property

Chances are that you have property insurance if you own your business property, and you may also have renter’s insurance if you lease a property. However, before you get business insurance quotes, you should consider what may happen if your employees or customers damage the property you are leasing. Your landlord could charge you for the repair costs or even sue you for damages if you refuse to pay, but a basic property rental policy may not cover these expenses. Some types of business liability insurance may pay for these expenses, and this could save you from having to pay thousands of dollars or more in unexpected expenses out of your pocket.

 

At first glance, buying optional coverage like business insurance can seem like an unnecessary waste of money. However, just as you would not dream of driving your car uninsured of leaving your home uninsured, you also should not leave your business uninsured. There are many potentially devastating events that could happen over the course of your regular business activities that could result in significant financial loss, and these are only a few of the ways that business insurance could benefit your business. A business insurance policy may have a very affordable premium, and this means that you cannot afford to continue operating your business without this type of coverage in place.

 

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Among the many areas of policy that have become major sources of polarized political discourse in recent years, few have been as prominent as higher education. Once largely a matter for states and the private sector to deal with, college and university tuition costs have become a central point of discussion at the federal level in the United States. Critics of the current state of subsidized higher education appear on both sides of this political debate. On one side are fiscal conservatives who prefer a free market approach to higher education, while the other side tends to favor increased subsidies or tuition-free college policy. Here is an overview of what everyone should know about politics and economics in modern education policy.

History of the Current American System

Much of the modern subsidy infrastructure of the United States was established by the Higher Education Act of 1965, a part of the Great Society reforms under President Lyndon Johnson. This act created the current system for the extension of federally guaranteed loans at low interest rates to college students. It also increased the amount of money earmarked for federal education grants, creating the early groundwork of what have become known as Pell Grants.

Despite this increase in funding, college tuitions continued to rise and present economic difficulties for low-income students. By the 1980s, a school of thought that federal subsidization of higher education had actually fueled these increases by eliminating downward market pressure on the borrowing power of students had emerged. This line of thinking would eventually become known as the Bennett Hypothesis, named for Ronald Reagan’s Secretary of Education, William Bennett.

Since Mr. Bennett’s time, further increases have been made to federal education subsidies, with costs continuing to rise. Whether or not this confirms the Bennett Hypothesis, however, is still a question of great debate among economists. What is certain is that the increases have been both continuous and rapid. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average cost of college tuition increased by 63 percent between January of 2006 and July 2016 alone. As a result of these soaring prices and the massive amount of debt taken on by American students to pay for them, educational funding policy has appeared as a central facet of modern political discourse.

Pathways to Change: Legislation and Democratization

At present, vast changes are taking place in the world of post-secondary education. Inside the political sphere, more and more jurisdictions have implemented enhanced financial support for students. Early in 2017, New York became the first American state to offer tuition-free public college to its residents, and a similar program has been implemented at the local level in San Francisco. On a national scale, the debate over tuition funding and free higher education received extensive coverage during the 2016 presidential election.

The private sector, too, has succeeded in finding ways to improve the ability of students to learn regardless of their income level. Online study resources, such as the well-known crowdsourced learning platform Course Hero, have helped to enhance learning and success rates for college students around the globe by improving access to information. Taking this concept to the next level, many universities now create MOOCs, or massive open online courses. These courses, hosted through online platforms, allow students to learn from top academic professionals for free. Though they do not carry the weight of a college degree, credentials from MOOC courses are gradually gaining acceptance among human resources professionals, particularly in the entry-level tech sector.

With both public and private entities exerting pressure on the traditional educational model, there is little doubt that significant changes are on the horizon. One of the developments that has already occurred is a greater shift toward online college offerings from for-profit private universities. A 2016 report found that, in just three years between 2013 and 2016, the number of private colleges offering online courses had increased by eight percent.

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