This report provides an overview of the forecast financial health of the HEFCE-funded higher education (HE) sector in England. The analysis covers the financial forecasts for the period 2015-16 to 2018-19, based on information submitted by higher education institutions (HEIs) to HEFCE in July 2016. Financial Reporting Standard (FRS) 102 is the new…

This report provides an overview of the financial health of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) funded higher education sector in England. The analysis covers the financial results for 2015-16. This does not include further education or sixth-form colleges, or alternative providers of higher education.

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…

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) recently issued Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 158 "Employers' Accounting for Defined Benefit Pension and Other Postretirement Plans" (SFAS #158). Their intent is to comprehensively reconsider the accounting for postretirement benefit plans in phases. The first phase was to provide…

Eligibility for an IRA has been severely changed by the Tax Reform Act of 1986. In 1987 educators who have a retirement plan administered by their employer will face new eligibility rules. For self-employment income, a Keogh plan is an excellent way to shelter income and provide retirement income. (MLW)

The data presented in this combined report--"Rankings & Estimates"--provide facts about the extent to which local, state, and national governments commit resources to public education. As one might expect in a nation as diverse as the United States--with respect to economics, geography, and politics--the level of commitment to…

A bridge benefit plan designed to provide an adequate income at age 65 so that faculty and senior administrators at Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, can choose to retire at an early age, while deferring receipt of their TIAA-CREF annuity benefits during the bridge period, is described. (MLW)

Important considerations for institutions wanting to establish supplementary early retirement benefits to encourage the practice are outlined. Regulations concerning pension plans, tax-sheltered annuities, and deferred compensation are reviewed. Individually negotiated early retirement supplements are not recommended. (MSE)

College and university employees are exposed to considerable risk in the management of their retirement funds, but there are also extraordinary opportunities for careful investors. Colleges should help employees gain knowledge of investing and ensure that a broad range of adequate investment options are available. (MSE)

In supporting the principle of equal monthly retirement benefits for women and men faculty, the author examines legal and other questions involved in determining whether separate mortality tables are equitable and whether equal contributions or equal monthly benefits is the proper measure of equality. (JT)

The benefits of the new Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association graded-benefit method and traditional level-benefit program are compared. Several possible typical situations are analyzed for both plans, showing net yearly incomes projected through retirement and considering tax rates. (MSE)

Quantitative financial measures were applied to evaluate the performance of the North Dakota Public Employee Retirement System (NDPERS) pension fund portfolios and the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association (TIAA)/College Retirement Equities Fund (CREF) portfolios, thus providing a relative performance assessment. Ten years of data were…

Declining enrollments in the 1980s, increasing financial pressures, and declining faculty vigor (publications) are publicized, but long-range planning to combat these problems is encountered less frequently. Early retirement is suggested as one response to meeting these challenges. (Author/MLW)

Retirement programs for college faculty are evaluated in terms of both their wealth-creation attributes and the incentives they provide for retirement. Wealth accumulation and relative cash flow from working compared to retirement are evaluated at various ages under alternative assumptions about rates of return and contribution rates. The nature…

The adequacy of pension plans for persons retiring from colleges and universities is considered. Data are presented showing that people who retired in the late 1960s and early 1970s from higher education institutions at ages 65 and 68 spent most of their working lives earning less than $10,000 a year. The phenomenon of low pensions in an age of…