Outside the circle of higher ed facilities managers, it's the shiny new campus buildings that get all the glory. Yet what facilities insiders know all too well is that existing buildings are in dire need of attention. Aging buildings, a recent economic downturn and pressure to invest in new construction has led to rising deferred […]
The wave of first-generation and low-income students now seeking higher ed access is placing unprecedented financial strain on the full spectrum of liberal arts institutions, says James F. Jones, the interim president of Sweet Briar College. But while other higher ed leaders acknowledge this and other challenges, many say the shutting down this year of […]
The Great Recession of 2007-08 had a profound impact on both public and private universities. In How the Financial Crisis and Great Recession Affected Higher Education (University of Chicago Press, 2015), Jeffrey R. Brown, a finance professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and co-editor Caroline M. Hoxby, a Stanford economics professor, examine universities […]
Fueled by government agendas, national press and public opinion, higher education has in recent years come under increased scrutiny in the form of calls for heightened transparency and accountability. Some of the U.S. Department of Education's initiatives in response include: The College Affordability and Transparency Center, which provides searchable lists of institutions by largest and […]
U.S. colleges and universities last year paid for operations with bigger chunks of their endowments to compensate for declines in key sources of revenue, particularly tuition and public funding. The good news is that the average rate of return rose for the second straight year, from 11.7 percent in FY2013 to 15.5 percent in 2014, […]
Each year, the market for tenure-eligible faculty positions becomes more and more competitive, and a greater number of newly minted Ph.D. graduates struggle to find a job. The U.S. annually produces about 70,000 new doctoral graduates, representing a significant investment of time and money by both the students and their universities. Considering that cost, and […]
Might the cliche of the forever-indebted college student someday become a fable? According to a new College Board report, total college student debt for 2013-14 is down by $8.7 billion from the previous school year, with students having borrowed $106 billion. This is the third consecutive year American student borrowing has decreased. There may be […]
From declining numbers of traditional-age high school graduates and changing student demographics, to the overall concern among consumers about the value of a higher education, anxiety will haunt enrollment administrators moving forward. "Last year was a stressful year for many colleges, and it has just exacerbated because of market conditions," says John Lawlor, principal and […]
In many ways, 2015 will look a lot like 2014 with respect to facilities. But there are trends impacting the creation and use of physical space on virtually every college and university campus. Institutions will be curbing new construction activity, getting creative about funding, paying more attention to overdue maintenance, and planning more for mixed-use […]
Colleges and universities expect to add students in 2015, though no institutions anticipate significant growth or decline in any enrollment sectors, according to a UB survey of higher ed administrators Fifty-six percent of respondents say overall enrollment will grow modestly in 2015, while only 11 percent are bracing for modest decreases. No respondents anticipate significant […]
