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ERIC Number: ED532915
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Aug-18
Pages: 35
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Measuring the Cost of a College Degree: A Case Study of a SUNY Community College
Romano, Richard M.; Losinger, Regina; Millard, Tim
Cornell Higher Education Research Institute
In his February 2009 address to Congress, President Obama called attention to the problems of higher education and promised a policy agenda to restore the U.S. to its leadership role in student access and completion rates. However, a depressed economy, stagnant or falling state funding for public higher education, and public resistance to rising tuition, are all impeding access to a postsecondary education recognized as essential in a global economy. In order to achieve the goal of increasing the proportions of Americans with high quality degrees and credentials, educators agree that the community college must play an important role, particularly if the low income minority students that typically attend these colleges are to be brought into the mainstream (Carnevale, Strohl & Smith, 2009). Almost all of the current discussion over meeting these goals focuses on the revenue side of the issue as colleges look for new monies to help hold down tuition increases in the face of declining public support. Yet, if we are to have a national discussion over the difficult choices that colleges and policy makers face, we must also ask questions about the cost of this service. This case study provides important information for the cost side of the discussion. It looks at the cost of producing different types of degrees and the internal cross-subsidies by department at Broome Community College (BCC), a public community college in upstate New York. Not only is the information useful in itself, but the methods employed may serve as a model for others to look more closely at costs on the campus or state level. Appended are: (1) List of degree and certificate programs included in study along with program codes and number of graduates for the 2008-09 academic year; (2) Direct Instructional Cost per Credit Hour for Departments Generating Credits for Graduates in this Study, from highest to lowest (2008-09 dollars); (3) Full Catalog vs Full Transcript Costs for 2008-09 G 2008-09 dollars); (4) Average number of credits taken by 2008-09 graduates versus required by program; and (5) Cost and Revenue for Dental Hygiene Degree-AAS (2008-09). (Contains 5 tables.) [For related report, "Measuring the Cost of a College Degree: A Case Study of a SUNY Community College," see EJ942609.]
Cornell Higher Education Research Institute. ILR-Cornell University 273 Ives Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853. Tel: 607-255-4424; Web site: http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/cheri
Publication Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education; Two Year Colleges
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Cornell Higher Education Research Institute (CHERI)
Identifiers - Location: New York
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A