The role of political factors, specifically of public opinion, in the relatively low penetration of charter schools into rural America remains unclear. We use 8 years of national survey data to demonstrate that rural residents express less support for charter schools than residents of other locales do. We attribute this gap to differences in…

In a world of fluctuating asset prices, many firms find the need to hedge in order to avoid or reduce losses. From a gold miner selling gold derivatives to airlines buying oil futures to protect against rising fuel costs, hedging is common practice across many different industries. In this paper, we provide students with a simplified example of a…

Americans both care about their schools and want them to improve. Though adults give the nation's public schools only mediocre grades, they are willing to invest more money in public education and they are reasonably confident that doing so will improve student learning. They are also open to a host of school reforms ranging from high-stakes…

Examines minority students' enrollment based on a national survey data. Describes students' background characteristics, college choice, engineering decision, financial need, college environment, and factors related to college success. Reports that commitment to the university, high school grade, SAT-mathematical score, and financial need were…

Results of the seventh annual national comparative data study on public two-year college financial characteristics are summarized, including statistics on expenditures and revenues, staffing, and credit enrollments. (MSE)

Analysis of costs of the University of the Air (Japan), a distance education institution, looks at expenditure per student, indirect costs, opportunity costs, cost per graduate, and cost per credit. Focus is on the university's economic advantage. It is suggested that additional economies will be realized with satellite broadcasting. (MSE)

Results are reported of a national college survey investigating procedures for transfering credit, and the quality and quantity of credits accepted at two- and four-year colleges and universities. The data from 835 respondents were manipulated by the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. (LB)

Construction funding for Council of Teaching Hospital (COTH) members has changed dramatically in the past decade. Funding trends are reported for COTH institutions for the years 1969 to 1977, and detailed comparisons are presented for three groups for 1977: COTH state and local government hospitals, COTH voluntary hospitals, and U.S. nonfederal…

A national study (n=114 institutions) of faculty teaching productivity is described, focusing on the development of appropriate measures acceptable to faculty, based on departmental data on credit hours taught and costs. Resulting tables display faculty productivity, in credits and students taught, and direct instructional costs by discipline and…