It is widely believed that administrative expenditures in US higher education are growing too rapidly, particularly in relation to expenditures that are directly related to instruction, and that this so-called "administrative bloat" is a major factor in the rising cost of higher education. We argue that this perception of rapid growth is…

This article estimates the costs of school finance adequacy in each of the 50 states and Washington, D.C. by applying the recommendations from an evidence-based model to the student characteristics of each individual state. Using two different prices, (a) the national average teacher salaries adjusted by a comparable wage index and (b) individual…

The purpose of the United States Department of Education's (the Department) Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 "Agency Financial Report" (AFR) is to inform Congress, the President, and the American people on how the Department has used the federal resources entrusted to it to promote achievement and preparedness of students entering a global…

Is it possible to get an "Ivy" education for $7,376 a year? Can a college provide high-quality undergraduate education at a reasonable cost? In this paper, the author explores if cost can be reduced and quality improved through the use of new "value-designed" models of undergraduate education. A value-designed model allows one to appeal to…

This article examines how the University of Kansas has changed in 20 years. Twenty years ago, annual operating expenses for the University of Kansas campus here were $204-million. Today the institution spends more than triple that, even though its enrollment, 26,000, is almost exactly the same. During the same period, tuition and fees for in-state…

Private institutions of higher education are highly dependent on alumni support to cover operating expenses, fund endowments and fuel large capital campaigns. For example, in 2004, alumni at private liberal arts colleges generated nearly 43% of total voluntary support and funded 21.5% of total institutional expenditures. This paper uses 15 years…

This study uses a regression model to determine if a significant difference exists between the actual budget allocation that an academic department received and the model's predicted budget allocation for that same department. Budget data from a Southeastern Master's/Comprehensive state university were used as the dependent variable, and the…

This publication, presented in pocket guide format, contains data from 2008 vocational education and training (VET) statistics collections. It includes key data on students and courses, apprentices and trainees training activity, graduates, the financial operations of the VET system, and employers' use and views of the VET system. Among the…

"Trends in College Spending: Where Does the Money Come from? Where Does It Go?", the second study from the Delta Project on Postsecondary Costs, Productivity, and Accountability, examines revenue and expenditure data for nearly 2,000 public and private non-profit colleges and universities (representing more than 75 percent of higher education…

In 2006, when the author joined the staff at Dominican College (New York), he discovered that the network, computers, and IT contracts were in sorry shape. He also found that this kind of condition is common in small colleges. Such a state of affairs is usually brought about by the unrelenting demands placed on small IT staffs. IT staffers at…

The North Dakota University System's (the "System") discussion and analysis (MD&A) provides an overview of the System's financial activities and issues for the year ended June 30, 2008. It is designed to focus on the current year's activities, resulting changes and currently known facts to assist readers in understanding the…

This 2014 fact book for the Florida College System is divided into the following categories: (1) Student Information, which includes fall, annual, FTE, and program enrollment statistics, as well as credit program completion statistics; (2) Employee Information, which includes statistics regarding employee headcount by occupational activity, and…

Many students find it necessary to draw on more than one source of funding to pay for their post-secondary education. Tuition, direct expenses--textbooks, supplies, equipment--and an increasing need for technology are not the only concerns. For those who had to relocate to study or do not live at home, everyday living expenses become the major…

This report provides a first-of-its-kind descriptive summary of private school expenditures. It includes comparisons of expenditures among different types and affiliations of private schools, and it also compares those expenditures with public school expenditures for districts in the same state and labor market. Results indicate that (1) the…

A new report by the Centre for Civic Governance of the Columbia Institute sheds light on why districts are struggling to balance their budgets while the Minister of Education claims they received the "highest funding ever." The $122 million increase in the current 2008-09 operating grant fell $15 million short of the $137 million…