Issues considered by the House Postsecondary Education Subcommittee, chaired by William Ford, during hearings on the Higher Education Act of 1980 are outlined briefly, including the Basic and Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants and Guaranteed Student Loan Programs, community service and continuing education, library programs, and research…

Explores how U.S. higher education's number one position over the last century is threatened as institutions struggle to deal with rising expectations from students and employers, which are producing chronic fiscal problems feared to be eroding the quality of teaching and research. (EV)

With outsourcing, colleges can focus on their primary mission rather than on managing an auxiliary service that may compete with private sector alternatives. Discusses when an institution should outsource; what businesses can bring to educational communities; the role of business officers in outsourcing; how to ensure successful outsourcing; why…

It is both the best of times and the worst of times for America's community colleges. In the 100 years since their creation, these colleges have spread across the United States to become the largest sector of higher education, representing nearly 1,200 regionally accredited institutions within commuting distance of over 90 percent of the…

Discusses why the current economic downturn for public institutions requires that policy makers respond with new financing policies that reflect the simultaneous convergence of state deficits, changing demographics, and the information economy's voracious demand for a more educated workforce. Presents strategies for states to behave as investors…

This article brings attention to decision-making in the world of state financing for higher education. It reflects on the origin of this field and the system builders in the 1960s and 1970s, who needed to figure out rational ways to both justify funding requests to the state and distribute resources among institutions. The article highlights one…

Fund accounting, currently used by many colleges and universities to report their economic performance, may obscure rather than clarify the facts for institutional constituencies. Global accounts are more thorough and descriptive of the institution's financial status, and can be used in conjunction with traditional accounting. (MSE)

Describes the turnaround at Dickinson College, Pennsylvania, which has long offered a solid liberal arts education in relative obscurity. The efforts of a new president, William Durden, have enabled the college to find its market niche and increase its enrollment and improve its finances. (SLD)

Ideas from current economic theory are applied to the nation's attitudes toward higher education. Ideas about asymmetric market information, trust markets, nonprofit firms, and maximization on campus are discussed. Public relations problems concerning accounting, deficits, and interest arbitrage are identified. The need for increased efficiency…

Graduate schools require federal support if they are to produce the new knowledge and trained intelligence necessary to the security, prosperity, and cultural life of the nation. Recommendations of the National Commission on Student Financial Assistance are discussed. (MLW)

The Action Committee for Higher Education--a coalition of 19 Washington-based higher education groups that serves as a national information clearinghouse on student aid, keeping students, parents, the news media, campus officials, and others informed about the Reagan Administration's student aid proposals--is described. (MLW)

Last May, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce and its 21st Century Competitiveness Subcommittee, which are responsible for the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, introduced H.R. 4283, the College Access and Opportunity Act (superseded in 2005 by H.R. 609). None of the debates over this proposed…

Problems with the Reagan administration's proposal for an income contingent loan (ICL) program are discussed. From an institution's perspective, ICLs are likely to be a major administrative headache because colleges would be required to administer it. (MLW)

The current high rate of tuition inflation and the low rate of savings by parents for future college costs is fueling interest in tuition prepurchase plans that guarantee the price of college years in advance. Middle class interest, educational risks, investments vs. tuition, and tax issue are discussed. (MLW)

There were declines in three of the six categories of science and engineering assistance between 1975 and 1985: fellowships and training grants; facilities and equipment related to instruction; and general support for conferences, teacher institutes, and activities aimed at increasing the scientific knowledge of pre-college and undergraduate…