A study of the relationship between the operating costs of statewide boards for higher education and the administrative costs of institutions of higher education in 50 states is described. The analysis focuses on 61 statewide boards for higher education and 1,472 public institutions. The research design involves controlling for such variables as…

The budget decision making process at Stanford University, California, from 1970 through 1979 was evaluated in relation to the allocation of general funds to 38 academic departments. Using Simon's theory of bounded rationality and an organizational level of analysis, the Stanford decision process was tested for its rationality through…

The development of a cost allocation model at Ohio State University is discussed. The model was designed to measure the direct, indirect, and total operating costs of university operations and to recover general fund overhead costs associated with unrestricted general fund support of auxiliary enterprises and revenue-generating activities. The…

The nine-college Los Angeles Community College District, which has an enrollment of 135,000 and a payroll of 11,000 and which receives 80% of its operating budget from local property taxes, faced post-Proposition 13 cutbacks of 52% of its non-restricted operating revenue. Three types of alternative budgets based on state funding possibilities were…

This paper reviews trends in resource allocations in the public schools over the last 25 years. It focuses specifically on changes in expenditures and school staff for the nation as a whole and for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, using data from the National Center for Education Statistics and the National Education Association…

This paper is a checklist on ways to save money targeted to administrators of small rural schools but appropriate to schools of any size. Tips concerning staff include salary issues, early retirement, time management techniques, involving staff in budget and facilities planning, and utilizing limited-experience teachers, teacher-administrators,…

This paper explores the ways in which community colleges in the United States are financed. It offers a historical overview of community college financing in the U.S., arguing that from their inception, they have operated on the premise of providing wide access to higher education through public funding at little or no cost to students. The paper…

The legal developments regarding dismissal of tenured faculty members because of financial exigency are considered. Attention is directed to, the ability of the public or private institution to dismiss and the constitution of a state of financial exigency and a bona fide dismissal. A standard for claiming financial exigency that was suggested by…

The value of microcomputer modeling tools and spreadsheets to help college institutional researchers analyze proposed capital projects is discussed, along with strengths and weaknesses of different software packages. Capital budgeting is the analysis that supports decisions about the allocation and commitment of funds to long-term capital…

The problem of selective renewal of basic research capability within a professional (medical) school of a major research university is addressed. Attention is directed to a strategy and process for conducting such a revitalization that includes marketing the program in a partnership modality to a local foundation. Reasons that the foundation…

The relationship between the costs of central administration and academic teaching and research production was studied, based on a large sample of British universities and a separate analysis of the Free University of Brussels, Belgium. To determine variables important to central administration costs, a cross-sectional and intertemporal regression…

The first part of this paper discusses two principal forms elaborated upon in previous literature for describing the relation between per pupil operating costs and school enrollment size. The first of these forms indicates that average per pupil costs decline up to a point as enrollment increases, reach a minimum, and then rise with further school…

During the spring of 1977 three statewide surveys were conducted by Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) staff. Survey contents and respondents were entirely different in each. About 450 Wisconsin citizens over age 18 were polled via telephone on items related to school costs, educational goals, DPI functions, and some legal issues.…

The financial condition of independent colleges of Kentucky and eight state universities and the community colleges taken as a unit were studied. Data for the five-year study period 1971-72 to 1975-76 was obtained from forms of the Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS) and reports of the Kentucky Council on Higher Education and the…

This feasibility study was designed to gather and analyze data to determine the potential cost-effectiveness of year-round education (YRE) compared to traditional-schedule education in California. An expanded version of the Stanford Research Institute's cost model was used to fit a broad conceptualization that enabled school districts with…