A recent survey of 41 different state boards of education revealed that officials from 28 states indicate that they are experiencing teacher shortages. The shortages in some states are significant. While the teacher shortage in many states is tied to different factors, one frequently cited reason for leaving the teaching profession is low pay.…

The Great Recession officially ended in June 2009. However, the labor market has made agonizingly slow progress toward a full recovery, and the slack that remains continues to be devastating for workers of all ages. The weak labor market has been, and continues to be, very tough on young workers. Though the labor market is headed in the right…

Trustees and administrators today confront one of two problems with post-retirement medical care. First, if institutions provide no support for their retirees' medical care, they implicitly offer a powerful incentive for senior faculty to stay on. The compensation and opportunity costs of this effect are obviously very high. But, second, if they…

Many higher education institutions today are struggling with the costs of their retiree health plans. The answer to controlling these costs may come in the form of a defined contribution retiree health plan for both current and future retirees. This article examines how such a plan can maximize availability of Medicare Part D prescription…

Harvard University has found that insuring its retiring faculty for long-term health care was too expensive, blocking implementation of its planned benefits program and potentially affecting the planning of many colleges. (MSE)

With health insurance costs soaring for both current employees and retirees, governing boards of institutions of higher education must contain costs. Possible strategies include shifting some expenses from employer to employee, establishing flexible-benefit or cafeteria plans, using managed care to reduce unnecessary medical procedures,…

This fourth edition of the "ES Review" brings together, in one setting, some of the best work from 2009-10. It features: (1) Teacher Quality (Teachers at Work: Improving Teacher Quality Through School Design (Elena Silva); Understanding Teachers Contracts (Andrew J. Rotherham); How Teachers Unions Lost the Media (Richard Whitmire and…

Long-term disability income coverage is seen as the most rapidly growing staff benefit in recent years. A Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association's survey of existing long-term disability plans, which provide adequate income replacement, is discussed. (MLW)

A preliminary investigation was done of the effect of the elimination of mandatory retirement of tenured faculty in higher education and the estimated costs of providing faculty benefits and inducements in a future without mandatory retirement. The study developed a classification system of possible benefit packages including the following: (1)…

This article explains why college faculty benefit by taking large portions of their compensation in fringe benefits, presents data showing trends in the provision of fringe benefits to college and university employees, and suggests that academic supply and demand conditions during the 1990s may lead to resumption of the upward trend in…

The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada's comments on Canada's 1987 White Paper on Tax Reform are presented. The comments relate primarily to five income tax issues: charitable giving to colleges and universities, faculty pensions, tuition, the reporting of tax deductions at source, and research and development efforts. For each…

Results of the ninth biennial survey of 585 colleges and universities concerning expenditures for employee retirement and insurance benefits for 1993 are reported. Data are presented primarily in tabular form, with some narrative. A summary of survey highlights is included. Sample findings included: weighted average employer expenditure for…

A number of economic and social factors suggest that this is an appropriate time for colleges and universities to review employee retirement plans. Information that employees should have for retirement planning is reviewed, and basic principles for institutions to use in selecting a pension company are outlined. (MSE)

Changes in retirement patterns at colleges and universities can be expected because of demographic reasons and because of federal and state legislation uncapping mandatory retirement. Institutional policies that will encourage reluctant older faculty to retire need to address the three fundamental components of successful employee retirement: (1)…

In 1932 the Office of Education published a bibliography on educational finance as one of the reports of the National Survey of School Finance (Bibliography on Educational Finance, 1923-31, U. S. Office of Education Bulletin 1932, No. 15). This bulletin contains a classified and annotated list of reports and studies published since that time, to…