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…

Causes and effects are examined for recent cuts in the budgets of the Office of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) and the National Institute of Education (NIE). Through interviews with agency executives the author finds new priority placed on selling themselves and their products to Congress. (JT)

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…

Three opinions are offered: (1) The federal government should be seeking ways of strengthening state, local, and institutional leadership by placing federal resources at the service of state and local agencies. (2) Social policy should not be handled by the states. (3) Keeping a proper balance between local and federal administration requires…

Higher Education needs a rebirth of academic management to combine educational policy and planning with financial administration. The approaches to strategy-making at four institutions at Hood, Hartford, Minnesota, Minneapolis-St. Paul, and Teachers College are described. (MLW)

ACIR recommends that state legislatures include all federal aid funds in their own appropriations bills, prohibit the expenditure of federal funds in excess of the amount states appropriate themselves, and specify spending priorities by establishing subprogram allocations. Implications of these recommendations are discussed. (LBH)

Affordability--the ability of students and other funders to contribute to the support of colleges and universities--is a topic of increasing salience. In this Resource Review, we examine the affordability of college from two perspectives: from that of students and their families, and from that of the state. We also identify many references to…

Public colleges and universities are complex organizations that assert their institutional autonomy as they simultaneously operate in a context demanding response to public and political scrutiny. State boards and legislators, for example, enact programs, incentives, or regulations in many policy arenas designed to affect how colleges operate. One…