The cost for higher education increased nearly 55% from 2002 to 2012, while state appropriations decreased 12% over the same time period (Government Accountability Office, 2014). The cost burden has been shifted heavily on students and their families as institutions have raised the cost of attendance in order to make up for declines in state…

This dissertation charts that growth of the profession of fundraising at American colleges and universities. Fundraising has been central to college and university operations from the beginning of American higher education; the fundraising professional, however, is a 20th century phenomenon. From their first campaigns to erect a building or…

This report provides a detailed look at the sources and distribution of grants, loans, and other student aid for the most recent academic year and how this funding has changed over time. The federal government provided two-thirds of all student aid in 2016-17, but only one-third of the grant aid. In the context of uncertainty about the timing of…

Data on student aid for 2015-16 confirm that the dramatic increases in aid awarded in 2009-10 and 2010-11 were products of extreme economic circumstances, not harbingers of long-run changes in financing for postsecondary education. Both total federal education loans and federal loans per full-time equivalent (FTE) student declined for the fifth…

As the nation slowly emerges from the Great Recession, the patterns of student aid are returning to the paths they were on before the economy crashed. The federal government, which dramatically stepped up its subsidies to students in 2009-10 and 2010-11, continues to play an expanded role, but not a growing role. Students continue to borrow at…

After increasing by 18% (in inflation-adjusted dollars) between 2007-08 and 2010-11, the total amount students borrowed in federal and non-federal education loans declined by 13% between 2010-11 and 2013-14. Growth in full-time equivalent (FTE) postsecondary enrollment of 16% over the first three years, followed by a decline of 4% over the next…

With tax revenues beginning to rebound in most states and endowments on the rebound at many private and public institutions, colleges and universities are growing more hopeful about their financial outlook and instituting new strategies to take advantage of the opportunities. Yet as the economic recovery has slowed in the past few months,…

This "Trends in College Spending" update presents national-level estimates for the "Delta Cost Project" data metrics during the period 2001-11. To accelerate the release of more current trend data, however, this update includes only a brief summary of the financial patterns and trends observed during the decade 2001-11, with…

Trends in Student Aid, an annual College Board publication since 1983, is a compendium of detailed, up-to-date information on the funding that is available to help students pay for college. This report documents grant aid from federal and state governments, colleges and universities, employers, and other private sources, as well as loans, tax…

The authors find that college students are borrowing more and taking on riskier forms of debt than ever before. If tuition increases continue to grow faster than inflation and family income and grant aid fails to keep pace, the authors project that more students will be left with few choices beyond student loans--and, increasingly, private loans.…

Analyzes New York University's Fiscal Crisis and proposes remedies. (JF)

Evaluates two papers in this "Economics of Education Review" issue. Affirms G.E. Auten and G.G. Rudney's predictions that major tax reforms could reduce private giving, but notes the authors' failure to adjust for changing institutional need. Praises C.C. Coughlin and O.H. Erekson for extending their inquiry to corporate donations and state aid.…

Trends on sources of funds and expenditures for U.S. colleges is presented for 1970-1984, based on the Higher Education General Information Survey. Trends in sources of funds for public colleges include: the proportion of revenues derived from tuition rose from 13% in 1975-1976 to 14.9% in 1983-1984; between 1977-1978 and 1983-1984, the share…

This paper presents a mathematical model for use in determining student tuition charges at public and private institutions. This model treats higher education as an economic commodity, with the price to the consumer--in the form of tuition--as an algebraic function of supply, demand, and quality. The model provides one set of solutions to such…

Compares and contrasts the financial situations of public and private black colleges with each other and with those of public and private predominately white colleges and universities. (JM)