Last August, the U.S. Department of Education disclosed that 149 nonprofit private colleges and universities had failed its "financial-responsibility test" for fiscal year 2008-2009. This article explains what the financial-responsibility test is and how it is used, explores what the implications might be for colleges and universities,…

How can a person be certain that the potential trustee he is considering is right for his board? How can that candidate be certain that one's institution and board are right for him? Answers to these questions are vital. Courting a candidate for the board of a private college or university means spending time and money, and with budgets…

Most economists expect the current economic downturn to be one of the most severe since World War II. In fact, there is a very real danger that the changing circumstances of students, families, state and federal governments, and educational institutions could interact to significantly diminish educational opportunity in the United States. The most…

During this period of continued economic uncertainty, higher-education institutions are facing a variety of challenges that by now are very familiar to governing boards and institutional leaders, including poor investment returns, reduced liquidity, limited choices in how they structure debt issues, and threats to flexibility in tuition pricing.…

The counterintuitive approach of the world's greatest value investor, Warren Buffett, may be the best hope for colleges and universities during this recession. Buffett's time-tested philosophy of seeking value and investing for the long term remains a sound approach, even if his short-term returns have declined along with those of the rest of the…

Controversies on several campuses in recent months have aroused passions of alumni groups that have directly challenged the authority of trustees. Board members, which have ultimate fiduciary responsibility, cannot permit aggrieved, aggressive alumni to thwart change, drive strategy, or redefine the institution's mission. Alumni are the most…

Seven small private colleges in three states have found a way to reduce their administrative technology costs and expand their technological capability at the same time. They have done it by choosing the common-sense, yet unconventional, college and university strategy of genuine collaboration. The result, the Independent College Enterprise (ICE),…

Describes an effort among independent colleges to collaborate on administrative support, the WAICU Collaboration Project (named for the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities). Asserting that such an approach allows independent schools to maintain their fiscal health and independence, discusses the program's history and…

Explores why, in meeting the competition from public and proprietary institutions, small liberal arts colleges should avoid their current homogenization and focus on core, distinctive elements of excellence. (EV)

Describes an initiative by Union College in Schenectady, New York, to invest $10 million in the local community. The initiative includes acquiring property, encouraging home ownership, scholarships for local students, community outreach, and formation of alliances with local community organizations and agencies. The necessary use of endowment…

Describes how poor information flow and faulty financial disclosure can stop private institutions of higher education from detecting warnings of financial trouble. Discusses how boards of trustees can prevent such a crisis. (EV)

Spotlights five colleges included in the 1999 report "Presidential Essays: Success Stories--Strategies That Make a Difference at Thirteen Independent Colleges and Universities" from the Council of Independent Colleges and the USA Group Foundation. The institutions are notable for board of trustee participation in the schools'…

Describes the effects of and universities' response to a recent National Labor Relations Board decision which defined graduate assistants at private institutions as employees, giving them the right to organize, collectively bargain, and strike. Includes a sidebar on the effects of the graduate student union at the University of Iowa. (EV)

Discusses why expanding to compete with public institutions makes no economic sense for small private colleges and may lower their rankings in the national collegiate pecking order. (EV)

Saint Mary's College of Maryland, previously a public college, has become a unique public-private hybrid in response to changes in state support commitments. Although this model could not be applied to most institutions, the experience suggests that college and universities must find new means of financing and relating to the state. (MSE)