This issue of "Policy Insights" reviews the results from Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education's (WICHE's) annual survey of tuition and fees at public colleges and universities in the region. The survey on which the report and this policy brief are based was administered to state higher education executive offices or system…

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…

Rates of tuition increases in both private and public higher education that continually exceed inflation, coupled with the fact that the United States no longer leads the world in terms of the fraction of young adults who have college degrees, have focused attention on why costs keep increasing in higher education and what categories of higher…

During the last two decades, median instructional spending per full-time equivalent (FTE) student at American 4-year colleges and universities has grown at a slower rate than median spending per FTE student in a number of other expenditure categories including academic support, student services and research. Our paper uses institutional level…

Although institutional researchers devote a great deal of time mining and using student data to fulfill mandatory federal and state reports and analyze institutional effectiveness, financial and personnel information is also necessary for such endeavors. In this article, the authors discuss the challenges that arise from extracting data from…

This report presents an analysis of the diversity of income streams in UK higher education institutions (HEIs) at a time when the sector is facing considerable uncertainty. The research was conducted over a six-week period from March to April 2010 and, as such, it predated the establishment of the new Coalition Government in the UK. In the period…

The authors construct and respond to several questions about changing administrative costs for new Research I Universities, a group of institutions that might be expected to incur new costs as a result of their new status. Using IPEDS data, the study provides mixed support for the claim that universities reaching the pinnacle of research…

Governments now expect universities to behave entrepreneurially generating revenues from the commercial exploitation of their intellectual assets ("third stream" income). This study questions whether this is possible for all universities in the UK and for all disciplines, or whether there are differences between institutions, between…

Problems relating to program discontinuance and the role of institutional research are discussed, drawing on a study supported by the Exxon Foundation of 10 predominantly large public universities that have either reviewed and closed programs or have gone through recent financial difficulties. Careful analysis is necessary to know that savings are…

Notes that public college tuition and student aid are evolving in ways inconsistent with either the low-tuition, low-aid or the high-tuition, high-aid approaches to financing. Argues that before deciding to revive either approach or develop a new one, higher education must develop understanding of what high-quality higher education is and what it…

Five years ago the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) launched a revolution in our education system by insisting that all students should be proficient in reading and math by 2014 and demanding comprehensive reforms to reach this national goal, including strong assessment and accountability systems, a highly qualified teacher in every classroom, more…

Several national data sources available to the public can be used to examine institutional impacts of student financial aid and to compare institutional data with national averages. (Author/MSE)

A system dynamics model for the pricing of tuition is presented, illustrating how such models enable decision-makers to anticipate cause-and-effect relationships and test alternative courses of action. (Author)

Higher education's search for growth in revenues and missions, largely successful to date, may be reaching its limits. If this is true, future attention in college administration will focus more on reducing expenditures, with implications for institutional research opportunities, use of resources, and the institutional research office's…

The growth of higher educational expenditures attributable to new social demands is considered. The main objective is to identify the sources of these costs, to estimate their amount, and to judge their impact on higher education. Colleges and universities, like many other types of organizations, are subject to social pressures and governmental…