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A study of how money is spent at three different liberal arts colleges. The title link, abnove, takes you to the Inside Highezr Ed story about it. Here is a PDF of the full report. 

The three (kept anonymous in the study to encourage full release of data) are similar in their size (1,560 to 1,648 enrollments), mission, academic offerings, the breadth of student activities and athletics, and loyal alumni. Students at all three institutions say that they picked them for their personalized approach to education and close contact with faculty members. Students give all three institutions high marks. (Lapovsky consults with colleges on their financial strategies; she said only one of the three colleges is a client.)

But the three institutions are also very different: in what they charge students, in their expectations of faculty, in their support for student activities, and in their admissions competitiveness."

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Clark University recently conducted a study of 1,000 1,000 young adults between the ages of 18 and 29 “to determine their views on a variety of subjects including work and the economy; love, sex and marriage; use of social media; relations with parents; and what it means to be an adult. Respondents come from a range of social, ethnic and educational backgrounds, as well as geographic regions across the United States.”

Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg, the world’s top CEOs all skipped college.  PayPal’s CEO and Co-Founder Peter Thiel is paying $100,000 to young inventors to drop out of college and get started on their inventions now.  But, despite the trend (and temptation) of focusing on the “now,” a new survey reveals that young people widely see the value of taking their time to get a college degree –whether they have attained one or not.

Regardless of the potential debt waiting for them after graduating, college costs are well-spent, they report, even though they may not find the right job immediately following graduation.  And, with all the dire news about the job market for their generation, nearly all those surveyed believe th

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Beckie Supiano summarizes a presentation by Brian Zucker, who spoke at the annual meeting of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NAASFE). In a very integrated look, Zucker brings out a web of related issues for students and families, which may not be visible to many on campus who are working with them, or to those planning the systems within which they and the institution interacts.

So where does that leave colleges? Back in the day, tuition discounting was a way for colleges to get ahead, Mr. Zucker said, bringing in a better class than they otherwise could. Now, he said, with all of those economic forces working against students and their families, discounting is “necessary to live to fight another day.” 

 ^{Go directly to the original of the resource described below.}

Academe is worth a regular bi-monthly look. The AAUP provides quality content. Access is not restricted. In the current issue, using its own words:

Don't miss out on joining nearly 1,500 of your colleagues and peers at higher education's premier planning event of 2010, SCUP–45. The Society for College and University Planning's 45th annual, international conference and idea marketplace is July 10–14 in Minneapolis!

Here's your SCUP Link to "Breaking Bad Habits: Navigating the Financial Crisis"

Dennis Jones, president of NCHEMS, is known to many as a scholar of US higher education for 40+ years. SCUP's Board of Directors began its April 2010 meeting with a presentation by Jones, to the board, in Ann Arbor, about many of the thoughts and facts that are in this excellent piece from Change magazine, which he wrote with Jane Wellman, the executive director of the Delta Project on Postsecondary Costs, Productivity and Accountability.

As promising as these long-overdue developments may be, the reality is that public higher education can't resolve its funding challenges simply by looking for new revenues, turning to the federal government, or cutting costs. Although each of these strategies can pay off in small ways, the fiscal challenge can't be solved by higher education acting on its own. This recession has clearly demonstrated that the financing problems affecting higher education are not short-term but structural. They are also born of bad habits and an inattention to strategic financing and resource allocation.

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The mantra of the moment is that the “cost model is broken” and that the “new normal” will require attention to cost management and efficiency on a continuing basis.

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Responsibility for creating the problem—and for its eventual solution—falls equally on both the state and institutions. It's a leadership and policy conversation that the two parties need to have with each other. Although no one would have wished for it to happen this way, the depth of the recession offers the opportunity for the two sides, working in tandem, to find new ways to fund the enterprise that might have been unimaginable under other circumstances.

Understanding the Costs of Public Higher Education by Peter McPherson and David Shulenburger

"In the case of higher education costs, diametrically opposed views have persisted over time. Why?"

Paul T. Brinkman and Anthony W. Morgan. 2010. Financial Planning: Strategies and Lessons Learned. Planning for Higher Education. 38(3): 5–14. 

This article is part of a themed issue of SCUP's journal, Planning for Higher Education, focusing on Issues in Higher Education Finance. Click, above, on the journal image to go to this issue's full table of contents or on the article title to go to this specific article.

Abstract - "This article explains the cost of education in public research universities. 'Price,' meaning 'tuition,' is often incorrectly substituted for 'cost,' meaning expenditures by the university that make the education possible. University cost is disaggregated to enable readers to distinguish between the costs associated with providing education to students and the costs of other non-educational activities that tend to produce their own revenue. While tuition has increased rapidly, real cost per student for providing education has been roughly constant for nearly 20 years. Increased revenue from tuition has been almost precisely offset by reduced revenue from state appropriations."

SCUP members were sent a printed copy of this issue, can read the full article on line, and can download a PDF at no additional charge. Nonmembers can purchase a PDF of this article here.

Financial Planning: Strategies and Lessons Learned by Paul T. Brinkman and Anthony W. Morgan

"Financial planning is more important than ever as colleges and universities face serious if not unprecedented financial challenges."

Paul T. Brinkman and Anthony W. Morgan. 2010. Financial Planning: Strategies and Lessons Learned. Planning for Higher Education. 38(3): 5–14. 

This article is part of a themed issue of SCUP's journal, Planning for Higher Education, focusing on Issues in Higher Education Finance. Click, above, on the journal image to go to this issue's full table of contents or on the article title to go to this specific article.

Abstract - "Financial planning is an increasingly critical function within higher education institutions. Its pivotal and multifaceted role is described in detail in this article. Based on many years of experience in higher education, the authors offer practical suggestions on how best to locate the function organizationally and perform it effectively. They discuss how environmental trends, both external and internal, are likely to impact future financial planning, the several ways in which financial planning can add value in the decision-making process, and how organizational context influences financial planning. The focus throughout is on organizational dynamics rather than analytic models."

SCUP members were sent a printed copy of this issue, can read the full article on line, and can download a PDF at no additional charge. Nonmembers can purchase a PDF of this article here.

Miami Dade College is unique in that it is arguably the largest and most diverse college in the nation, but our concerns are the same as those of smaller, community-based colleges in Florida and elsewhere. We serve students who need financial and academic support in order to attend college, and we do so with a per-student allotment that is several times lower than that of public universities in the state. In terms of institutional funding, Miami Dade is the equivalent of Afghanistan competing against the European Union.

However, leaps in the adoption of technology can help Miami Dade to keep up with the Joneses. More and more, students are pushing the future landscape of education toward online learning. The Miami Dade Virtual College, established in 1997, has exceeded annual growth projections of 25 percent. Seemingly overnight, the student population of the Virtual College has become bigger than that at four of the eight actual campuses, and it is hard to predict how much larger it will grow. Twenty years ago, we could have easily predicted new construction, but who could have predicted a landless, building-less college? Even though online courses require investments in software and course design, the cost savings from the reduction in physical space are obvious and extensive.