A research design, decision support system, and results of a comparative analysis of enrollment and financial strength (of private institutions granting masters and doctoral degrees) are presented. Cluster analysis, discriminant analysis, multiple regression, and an interactive decision support system are used to compare the enrollment and financial strength of a private comprehensive university with selected peer and aspiration institutions. The study was initiated to assess how rapidly the university can increase faculty salaries considering its financial resources and its risks as a tuition- and enrollment-dependent institution. The decision support system developed for the study is part of a long-range effort to improve the quality of information available for strategic planning and financial management at the university. The use of a hybrid method of selecting peer and aspiration groups was found to be a practical approach. Cluster analysis, discriminant analysis and multiple linear regression were found to be powerful tools for analysis and presentation of interinstitutional data. The decision support system was found to be extremely use in refining and interpreting the results of the analyses through a case-study approach, and can be used with any institutional research database. Contains 5 references. (Author/KM)