This paper reviews and examines approaches to determining the financial viability of academic programmes as a critical component of assessing a programme's overall sustainability. Key to assessing the financial viability of a programme is understanding the teaching activities required to deliver the programme and the cost of those activities. A…

In college and university administration, overhead costs are often charged to programs indiscriminately, whereas the support activities that underlie those costs remain unanalyzed. It is time for institutions to decrease ineffective use of resources. Activity-based management attributes costs more accurately and can improve efficiency. (MSE)

Many university athletics departments are running significant deficits, making critical full reporting on all expenses, by sport. Anything less than full disclosure by sport of all related expenses misleads institutional leaders, students, alumni, and legislators into believing that football and men's basketball teams can bankroll…

Federal regulations concerning recovery of indirect costs of university research projects are changing. Institutions should explore possible alternatives for managing reporting of indirect costs for individual projects. One system, reporting indirect cost categories in the same format as direct costs, may give insight into expenditures and help…

Results of a followup legislative review of the operation of the University of Mississippi School of Dentistry are summarized. An initial 1982 evaluation of the dental school revealed numerous deficiencies in financial and operational management. Among other things, the 1982 report concluded the the dental school, the third smallest in the United…

The effectiveness of the financial management practices and the efficiency of the operations of the University of Mississippi School of Dentistry were evaluated, and recommendations to improve operations were offered by the legislative review committee. While the primary emphasis was effective cost management, attention was also directed to: the…

The administrative costs of the student financial aid delivery process at postsecondary institutions were analyzed. After reviewing the literature and interviewing selected experts, 1982 cost data at nine institutions were studied: three public and two private colleges, two community colleges, and two proprietary institutions. Costs were…

This feasibility study was designed to gather and analyze data to determine the potential cost-effectiveness of year-round education (YRE) compared to traditional-schedule education in California. An expanded version of the Stanford Research Institute's cost model was used to fit a broad conceptualization that enabled school districts with…