College and university administrators and trustees have an obligation to maximize the return on all available resources consistent with law and with prudent conduct. Assessing and minimizing risk is an essential component of developing a creative financing program. (MLW)

Describes attempts to develop quantitative formulas for determining book fund allocations, and discusses the difficulties of this approach in a university environment characterized by scarce resources and conflicting departmental goals. A set of procedural rules intended to promote fair and equitable allocations is presented. (36 references) (CLB)

First generation resource allocation studies examined relationships between student learning and the availability of resources to a school or district. This article analyzes the transition from these early inquiries to more recent studies of resource flow into the individual classroom, and considers the contributions economists can make to such…

Reallocation of positive reductions in staffing and urgent retrenchments will require a consistently open process. A forced-choice decision-making environment will focus greater attention on the legitimacy and trustworthiness of the decision-making process. (Author/MLW)

An economic rationale for financial aid, for need and no-need awards, and for the changes in the level of support and the mixture of programs is presented. The economic model used to develop this rationale is the capital investment theory. (MLW)

Budgeting and resource allocation systems that work for one institution may not work well for another. Each institution's procedures should meet its specific requirements and characteristics, even when that means adapting or drawing on other systems. (MSE)

The Indian University Grants Commission, charged with regulating academic standards and disbursing government funds, has not exercised its authority, with serious consequences. Rectifying the situation will be difficult. (MSE)

The Hong Kong University and Polytechnic Grants Committee both reflects the uniqueness of Hong Kong's situation and is inhibited by it. Its academic members are all from overseas, which limits collective discussion and affects its reliance on a local secretariat that acts as a de facto department of higher education. (MSE)

The Council of the Great City Schools proposes that Pennsylvania overhaul the formula for funding its public schools in order to provide Philadelphia and other poor and minority communities with resources equivalent to those in the highest achieving school districts in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The proposal has two goals: (1) to propose a…

This paper examines trends in the support of public higher education versus that for prisons in New York State over the last decade and concludes that the dramatic rise in funding for prison expansion has come at the expense of higher education. The paper notes that (1) since fiscal year 1988, operating budgets at New York's public universities…

A survey of attitudes toward Britain's University Grants Committee as intermediary between government and universities shows that it secures the maximum self-government for the institutions at any given time. Economic and political pressures have dampened enthusiasm for the agency, but do not warrant abandoning it. (MSE)

Four questions must be addressed in assessing the direction of higher education: (1) What should potential learners learn? (2) Who should have the opportunity for systematic higher education? (3) How should a desirable pattern of institutions be determined, organized, and governed? and (4) How should resources be provided, distributed, and…

Reviews social, economic, educational, and commercial interests that compete for the control of resources allocated to young children. Proposes that public policy for the child be based on child growth and development, rather than on other factors. (Author/GC)

The major issue of educational quality is linked to the potential of national and state assessment programs. It is suggested that changes in assessment design, analysis, and reporting can significantly contribute to improvement in the policy development process. The California Assessment Program illustrates how state assessment information may be…

A statement, three commentaries, and a panel discussion address the legal implications of results of the Bakke case concerning racial preference in college admission. Implications in areas other than education are examined. Available from Wash. Univ. School of Law, St. Louis, MO 63130. (MSE)