In this article, the author offers his reflections on the American economy and its "slow, gradual, and tedious" recovery. What the American people are experiencing now is not one of the ordinary recessions that have been experienced since World War II. What they have seen is a bursting of a bubble in the credit markets and in financial…

Completing a college degree, or failing to, is a major factor in determining whether a person will have an economically stable future. While it might have been possible a few decades ago to graduate from high school, enter the job market, and find a career that enabled one to earn a solid middle-class life, that path to success has been almost…

A new study of endowments by the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) and the Commonfund Institute has brought good news to college and universities: While endowment returns dropped precipitously in fiscal year 2009 as a result of the financial crisis and accompanying slide in equity markets, they climbed to an…

This book argues that schools were a driving force in the formation of social, political, and financial capital during the market revolution and capitalist transition of the early republican era. Grounded in an intensive study of schooling in the Genesee Valley region of upstate New York, it traces early sources of funding and support for…

Times are very tough. The great majority of colleges are looking at 2009 and 2010 and beyond, in anticipation of the deepest budget cuts in more than a generation. But as bad as the financial situation may be, colleges can survive if they take swift and strong emergency action. It is time for some straight talk, starting with the realization that…

Structural and economic problems facing higher education and potential new markets opened by continuing education are discussed, based on a study of 24 public and private institutions. Programming areas in continuing education are distribution requirements, contract training for employees of business, and noncredit courses for the general public.…

The impacts of market-related policies and revenues on higher education are not uniform but globalisation has opened most institutions to new pressures. The public funding models developed 50 years ago underestimated the full cost of mass higher education as an entitlement while the sheer scale of resources needed to sustain a comprehensive…

Discusses principles for allocation of endowment funds by governing boards, including intergenerational equity, the inherent conflict between an institution's operating budget and its endowment, the importance of achieving financial integrity, and spending policies in volatile markets. Guidelines for board-reviewing policies are offered. (DB)

The future of American higher education in the 1980s is considered and comments on the following aspects are made: public attitudes, financial trends, future enrollments, use of excess capacity, private institutions, the job market, vocational trends, quality of education, the taxpayer revolt, and faculty compensation. (PHR)

Issues of institutional accountability for colleges and universities are examined in the American and European contexts, particularly as market forces gain importance in Europe. Varying forms of accountability (formal, through accreditation; financial; and academic) and two dimensions of accountability (external vs. internal, legal vs. financial)…

The question of whether private colleges are pricing themselves out of the market is considered. An analysis of the actual application patterns of a sample of high-ability students indicates that colleges and universities are not pricing themselves out of the market. Despite substantial increases in tuition and other fees over the last several…

This background paper on institutional lending examines institutional lender policy in the Stafford Student Loan Program, the study of which was mandated in the 1986 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. The paper's particular purpose, however, is to familiarize the reader with the general operation of programs and the historical…

This report, one of a series on Changing Patterns of Finance in Higher Education, examines important changes in the funding for higher education in England during the 1970s and 1980s. Until the early 1970s, English universities were funded by quinquennial grants from the government through the University Grants Committee; the public sector…

Pressures facing higher education institutions regarding accountability and the implications of their responses for accreditation agencies and state governments are discussed. Much of the response of institutions to current or anticipated declines in enrollments or financial resources is defensive and/or negative. Some institutions plan against…

In 1980, the Ohio Board of Regents (OBR) proposed several alternative funding formulas for the state's public-assisted institutions in anticipation of enrollment declines. Two alternatives, involving subsidy ceilings and free competition for students, were dismissed in favor of a third alternative involving a system of voluntary restraints in…