The retreat of state funding for higher education and other factors has increased competition and program duplication among campuses. Subsidies of in-state student tuition has shrunk; the perception of public good investments has transformed into students paying their educational costs, for what is considered private good, by borrowing against…

At the conclusion of the 2007-08 academic year, the City of Keene and Keene State College (KSC) began to celebrate the college's 100th anniversary. Keene is the 23,000-person hub of a 70,000-person county in southwestern New Hampshire. The history of a supportive town-gown relationship began prior to the college's founding in 1909. The city had…

New Jersey abandoned formula funding of higher education in favor of incentive funding combined with base budgeting. State institutions receive basic operating funds and compete for extra monies by planning initiatives for problems on which state leaders want more action. Incentive funding has cost little and improved quality noticeably. (MSE)

The efforts of the biology department at William Paterson College, a state college in New Jersey, to use strategic planning at the department level are chronicled. Planning focused on establishing a direction for hiring faculty, developing curriculum, purchasing equipment, and training students. Results, unanticipated outcomes, and lessons learned…