Description of business and significant accounting policies and practices (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2011

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Use of Derivatives and Hedging

Use of Derivatives and Hedging — In connection with the issuance of long-term debt in May 2011, as more fully described in Note 5, we entered into an interest rate swap designated as a hedge of the variability of cash flows related to interest payments on the variable-rate portion of the debt. Gains and losses from changes in the fair value of the interest rate swap are credited or charged to accumulated other comprehensive income (AOCI).

We also use derivative financial instruments to manage exposure to foreign exchange risk.  These instruments are primarily forward foreign currency exchange contracts that are used as economic hedges to reduce the earnings impact exchange rate fluctuations may have on our non-U.S. dollar net balance sheet exposures or for specified non-U.S. dollar forecasted transactions.  Gains and losses from changes in the fair value of these forward foreign currency exchange contracts are credited or charged to other income (expense) net (OI&E).  We do not apply hedge accounting to our foreign currency derivative instruments.

We do not use derivatives for speculative or trading purposes.

Fair values of Financial Instruments

Fair Values of Financial Instruments — The fair values of our derivative financial instruments were not significant at September 30, 2011.  Our investments in cash equivalents, short-term investments and certain long-term investments are carried at fair value and are discussed in Note 8.  The carrying values for other current financial assets and liabilities, such as accounts receivable and accounts payable, approximate fair value due to the short maturity of such instruments. The fair value of our long-term debt approximates the carrying value.

Fair value

We measure and report our financial assets and certain liabilities at fair value. Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date.

The three-level hierarchy discussed below indicates the extent and level of judgment used to estimate fair value measurements.

Level 1 — Uses unadjusted quoted prices that are available in active markets for identical assets or liabilities as of the reporting date.

Level 2 — Uses inputs other than Level 1 that are either directly or indirectly observable as of the reporting date through correlation with market data, including quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets and quoted prices in markets that are not active.  Level 2 also includes assets and liabilities that are valued using models or other pricing methodologies that do not require significant judgment since the input assumptions used in the models, such as interest rates and volatility factors, are corroborated by readily observable data. Our Level 2 assets consist of corporate obligations, some U.S. government agency securities and auction-rate securities that have been called for redemption. We utilize a third-party data service to provide Level 2 valuations, verifying these valuations for reasonableness relative to unadjusted quotes obtained from brokers or dealers based on observable prices for similar assets in active markets.

Level 3 — Uses inputs that are unobservable, supported by little or no market activity and reflect the use of significant management judgment.  These values are generally determined using pricing models that utilize management estimates of market participant assumptions.

Our auction-rate securities are primarily classified as Level 3 assets.  Auction-rate securities are debt instruments with variable interest rates that historically would periodically reset through an auction process.  These auctions have not functioned since 2008. There is no active secondary market for these securities, although limited observable transactions do occasionally occur. As a result, we use a discounted cash flow (DCF) model to determine the estimated fair value of these investments as of each quarter end.  The assumptions used in preparing the DCF model include estimates for the amount and timing of future interest and principal payments and the rate of return required by investors to own these securities in the current environment.  In making these assumptions we consider relevant factors including: the formula for each security that defines the interest rate paid to investors in the event of a failed auction; forward projections of the interest rate benchmarks specified in such formulas; the likely timing of principal repayments; the probability of full repayment considering the guarantees by the U.S. Department of Education of the underlying student loans and additional credit enhancements provided through other means; and, publicly available pricing data for student loan asset-backed securities that are not subject to auctions.  Our estimate of the rate of return required by investors to own these securities also considers the reduced liquidity for auction-rate securities. To date, we have collected all interest on all of our auction-rate securities when due and expect to continue to do so in the future.