With the US economy continuing its weak recovery, it's tempting to think that IT budgets in higher education might begin to rebound especially in light of the increased focus on online learning. Nice thought, but no. Education costs are rising even faster than those for healthcare, and the public outcry over the cost of higher education is--deservedly--growing louder. Efficiency remains the name of the game, and IT is being tasked with finding many of those efficiencies--on top of its usual role. Unfortunately, IT's elevation to efficiency expert has not been accompanied, in most cases, by a fatter budget. To find out how schools are coping with more responsibility and anemic budgets, the journal staff talked with three IT leaders from a range of higher ed organizations.