Lots of colleges treat students like customers. How many have an ice-cream truck? And valet parking? And a concierge desk? And an enormous hot tub in the middle of the campus? Not too many. Actually, only one: High Point University. This once-sleepy institution in the hills of North Carolina has undergone a revival in the last couple of years,…

Explores how, in deals meant to win friends as well as fees, colleges like Drexel University are joining with outside companies to offer online banking services. Discusses the risks and advantages of such private-label financial services for students, faculty/staff, and alumni. (EV)

Describes how distribution of national, local, and college newspapers at no charge has increased newspaper readership at Pennsylvania State University from 8 to 75 percent. Reports that at least 140 other colleges are experimenting with the idea, which builds the costs into general student fees. Critics suggest that student papers and activities…

Academics are clamoring for services from campus computer centers, despite predictions that the proliferation of personal computers threatened their existence. Faculty are using the services for help with their own machines. (MSE)

At Oregon State University, an investigation into physical plant administration in response to complaints found significant problems with customer service. Adopting an approach called Total Quality Management, the staff identified and resolved problems, improved quality, and reduced cost. Administrators feel the principles could be applied in all…

Some higher education groups are concerned that the strategies adopted by other groups to counter industry's charges of college abuse of tax-exempt status will further alienate Congress and stimulate new restrictions on the business activities of nonprofit groups. (MSE)

Increasingly, student services on college campuses may be offered on a fee-for-service basis. Campuses are facing choices between essential services and conveniences. In some cases, the situation has encouraged innovation, but in many others it has created frustration and tension. (MSE)

Revisions of federal tax law governing the business operations of nonprofit institutions would no longer define a business activity as "related" to the organization's primary mission, and thus tax exempt, solely because it is operated for the convenience of members or students. (MSE)

Struggling to manage under reduced public financial support, many of Canada's universities are turning to entrepreneurial projects to provide supplemental income. In addition to conventional means such as real estate development, investment, and marketing, some are shifting ancillary services (conference facilities, residences, food services,…

Increasingly, colleges and universities are contracting with private companies to provide or manage a variety of campus support services. "Outsourcing" is most common in bookstores and food services. Encouraged by legislatures, the trend is extending to public institutions. However, privatization of services is slower in higher education…

The fact that colleges are providing a rich environment for learning at a relatively low annual fee should be enough evidence of their commitment to good management to satisfy the public and the Department of Education in its demand for efficiency in higher education. (MSE)

A new lobbying strategy by six universities, designed to show Congress that higher education may be willing to give up some tax advantages under current law, is also criticized as a tactical error when Congress is just beginning to consider changes in the tax law affecting nonprofit groups. (MSE)

Increasingly, colleges and universities are privatizing housing, attracted to the limited financial outlay and involvement in management. Critics fear that institutions' financial positions will be compromised if the private developers have problems, and that institutions will lose control of financial aspects and quality of residence-hall life,…

More students with vision and hearing impairments and with hidden handicaps such as learning and emotional disabilities are seeking college degrees, and colleges are responding with technology and other support services to promote these students' independence and success. (MSE)

Striving to streamline student services and improve electronic communication, colleges and universities are signing on with companies that offer sophisticated World Wide Web sites through which students can accomplish basic administrative functions and receive information. The sites are often free of charge but also feature advertising messages…