Campus CFO

In a vote that some lawmakers hailed as a first step toward curbing the rising costs of college, Minnesota's House passed an omnibus bill that would freeze tuition for two years at both of the state’s public higher education systems.

John Griswold, executive director of Commonfund Institute, talks in this Q&A about how colleges and universities can make smart choices in an uncertain economy, and details the major factors influencing investment decisions.

In this web seminar, Scannell & Kurz offers best practices in deploying scarce aid resources, while discussing how to evaluate the effectiveness of current pricing and award strategies and how to identify opportunities to increase net tuition.

Unless lawmakers find the money, Oklahoma's higher education facilities will be forced to fork over an additional $24 million a year in bond costs that education leaders previously believed were going to be shouldered by the state.

There is a lot of talk right now about the future of higher education, and particularly about how student financing should be redesigned within that new future. The main driver of this interest is the nation's dramatically increasing need for talent. Two-thirds of all new jobs require a postsecondary degree or other credential, but only about 40 percent of Americans have it. As a result, the talent gap is wide.

In the last four years, higher education in Louisiana has felt the brunt of more than $650 million in cuts. Depending on what happens in the state legislature, tuition could rise for thousands of students at universities across the state. Recently, the state's House Education Committee held a hearing on a proposed bill which would allow universities to raise tuition without legislative approval.

Starting from day one, for every three classes a new student successfully completes, Strayer University (Va.) will place one Tuition Award in their Graduation Fund to cover the cost of one future class. In addition, as part of an overall effort to address affordability, Strayer University is also announcing that tuition will be frozen for currently enrolled students, and there will be no tuition increase for 2014.

Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, Texas, has fired chief financial officer James E. Smith amid accusations he used the school's money to pay off debts he and his wife incurred. An affidavit submitted with a lawsuit filed this week by the university says Smith admitted embezzling about $40,000 over a four-year period.

Newman University (Kan.) will have a new vice president for finance and administration later this year. Jennifer Gantz has been named to that position, effective June 1, replacing Mark Dresselhaus, who is retiring at the end of May. Gantz has been chief financial officer at The Independent School (Kan.) since 2007.