Clouds that emerged throughout 2017 are hanging over the heads of campus administrators, posing potentially huge impacts to higher ed as a whole. Just a few of the significant national developments include: the proposed $9 billion in cuts to the U.S. Department of Education for fiscal year 2018—which if implemented will affect Stafford Loan financing, […]
While relying less on student tuition and fees is the ideal situation for many higher ed institutions, it's not surprising that finance administrators anticipate tuition revenue as the biggest funding boost for 2018. Other areas with a starring role in additional funding projections are student fees and advancement income, from both philanthropic and corporate donors. The 66 […]
"No margin, no mission!" is how one respondent to UB's 2018 Outlook survey of campus leaders described the high stakes involved in raising more tuition revenue, non-tuition revenue and fundraising dollars in 2018. Controlling costs is one of the top two institutional priorities noted by the survey's 72 president, chancellor and provost respondents. Nearly 6 […]
We asked: What are your predictions, hopes and concerns for 2018? Administrators and experts who have recently contributed to UB answered. A link to each contributor’s recent column appears under their name. “College students are wired to think about their future. Higher education must start early to create meaningful career development experiences for students by […]
When the finance team at Wofford College in South Carolina wanted to show it could support a slightly higher than average tuition increase, advanced financial software was on hand to make the case to the board of trustees. “We loaded historical sticker prices for Wofford and our peers into the software and then made a […]
The headlines say it all. "Texas universities forced to trim their budgets, even with big state cuts averted." —Texas Tribune "University of Alaska budget cut by $8 million in legislative compromise" —Alaska Dispatch News Subhead: Case studies on how small ideas bloomed into noticeable savings "University of Missouri to cut 400 positions amid budget woes" —US […]
It has become increasingly difficult for some four-year institutions to meet enrollment goals for first-year students. The good news is that enrolling transfers has advantages. Transfer students generate higher average net tuition revenue than first-year students but don't create large pressures on housing. They also enroll in upper-level courses that typically have capacity. These benefits […]
Active members of the military represent their own component of the nontraditional population. They may be older and first-generation, but the demands of deployment and service mean they can't attend full-time or remain at the same institution for all four years of their college education. A few institutions have been busy over the last several […]
Four-year private institutions continue to rely on—and increase—tuition discounts to attract students, but the strategy is not improving the bottom line, according to a recent study from the American Educational Research Association. An analysis of U.S. Department of Education data from 2003 to 2012 shows that among 448 small, four-year liberal arts colleges, both the […]
Purdue University surprised its faculty and the general higher ed sector this spring with its plans to acquire Kaplan University for a symbolic $1 (with a revenue-share plan spanning 30 years). Less noted is the opportunity Purdue has to learn from its new unit. Purdue, an Indiana land-grant institution, will form a new, public university […]
