The phrase "survival of the fittest" is coming to fruition in higher education today. Less than strategic financial moves have no place in post-secondary education. Facing the realities of our current economy is dictating major changes in how colleges are "doing business." These changes present enormous challenges to community…

Empirical research on the returns to postsecondary education provides a near universal consensus that college confers numerous advantages for both individuals and society. Not only do individuals with a college degree earn more money than their peers with only a high school degree, they lead healthier lifestyles, experience greater job…

There is one aspect of sponsored research associated with higher education's research enterprise that often places the institution's research administrators and the institution's faculty members in conflict with each other; the recovery of Facilities and Administrative (F&A) costs associated with sponsored research projects (Sedwick, 2009;…

Baptist Community Ministries asked The Finance Project to examine the expenditure of federal funds for job training and education of New Orleans' disconnected young adults (i.e., persons between ages 16 and 24 who are not in school or work). Four major sources of federal funding for job training and education of this population are available: the…

In many districts where budgets are tight and forcing cuts in services, are teacher incomes also falling behind? Is teaching becoming a less remunerative occupation relative to other local opportunities such that over time it may become less attractive? Or, do the automatic salary triggers shift wages up despite revenue constraints? This study…

This study was conducted to fill a void in information, provide relevant, current data for faculty members related to external grant-writing activities related to the academic field of sport management and serve as a tool that may aid in the advancement of external grant-writing efforts within the field of sport management. All data is specific to…

The size of the nation's debt has important implications for children and families and for programs that serve them. Even so, children received relatively little attention during the recently concluded presidential campaign. This fall, Child Trends devoted its 2012 Kristin Anderson Moore Lecture to the implications of the debt for children to…

The academic work force has been transformed over the past several decades, less by design than out of expediency. In 1969, professors who were either tenured or tenure-track made up 78 percent of the faculty. Those working part time made up only 18.5 percent. By 2009, those proportions had almost flipped, with tenured and tenure-track making up…

Little is known about the costs charter schools incur to foster security--a vexing phenomenon when one considers policymakers' and parents' seemingly high and growing want for school safety. Using data from the National Center for Education Statistics and Texas, we reveal how much charter schools spend on security, how they put these resources to…

In February 2009, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) issued Statement No. 54, "Find Balance Reporting and Governmental Fund Type Definitions." This statement changes how a fund balance is classified on the face of the government fund financial statements and refines the definitions for government fund types. The statement's…

In China, debates about higher education finance led to the introduction of a cost-sharing model, whereby students were required to pay tuition fees, over a decade ago. However, there is still significant resistance towards such a system within the broader society. In order to share insights into the development of the cost-sharing policy in China…

Perhaps more than many other industries, today's universities and colleges are beset by dramatically rising costs on every front. One of the areas where overhead can be contained or reduced is in the operation of the chilled water systems that support air conditioning throughout college campuses, specifically the cooling towers. Like many…

An old saying goes, "When an irresistible force meets an immovable object, something has to give." That adage is taking on new urgency for school districts as they grapple with the burgeoning costs of their special education programs. The immovable object is the hard and fast rules of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education…

Many countries associated with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development are seeking to raise standards and strengthen education systems by promoting school choice, illustrated by charter schools in the United States and the Free Schools in England. Australia's education system provides a relevant and useful case study of the…

Purpose: This article examines two questions: (a) How does resource allocation change in school districts experiencing sustained charter school competition? (b) Among districts exposed to charter competition, are there differences in the resource allocation adjustments between those that do and do not succeed in stemming further enrollment loss to…