It's nothing more than a headline right now, but the Department of Education is getting involved in this awful Penn State scandal. I'm one of the few non-lawyers on this site, so if anyone with a legal background wants to chime in, please do so. What does this mean? I didn't know the Education Department even had investigative powers, at least in the legal sense. Why the Education Department? Is it to look at avenues to eliminate federal funding or some other way to punish Penn State in ways that are apart and aside from the legal system? It seems that Penn State the academic institution is going to pay a steep, steep price for the heinous actions (and inaction) of a few.