Phew ...

Speaking of higher education, I just confirmed that two or three years ago, my undergraduate alma mater almost went under.

Unlike the impending higher-education bubble-burst in the U.S., Bishop's University's near-collapse was not caused by absurdly high tuitions.

For residents of Canada, tuition at private Canadian universities is far less expensive than even the state schools are in the U.S., but only because most of the Canadian institutions are heavily subsidized by provincial governments.

No, in this case, the university was nearly brought down by old-fashioned fiscal mismanagement, an abrasive and inept president and near-catastrophic labor relations.

Plus, it's very difficult to raise money at those institutions when most people figure the government will always be there. Turns out they were wrong. Even the province of Quebec doesn't have bottomless pockets.