The vagaries of market forces are presenting a financially challenging environment for the higher education sector in England. Intense competition is leaving those overly dependent on tuition fee income in an exposed position. Despite a strong narrative for the need to diversify funding in the available higher education literature, empirical…

Strategic financial management is being redefined as a result of the ongoing fiscal challenges facing the nation's public colleges and universities. The Great Recession reached its peak in 2009 and the era of "business as usual" for public higher education quickly faded. A "new normal" has emerged that is causing leaders to…

Fiscal responsibility matters at institutions of higher learning, especially when they are public and supported by taxpayers, but colleges are not businesses. The consequences of fiscal irresponsibility profoundly affect students, faculty, and staff, as well as teaching, research, and service activities. This essay gives a brief history of the…

This qualitative study explored the lived experiences of eight full-time community college faculty members who taught during the economic crisis of 2008. The study was guided by the central research question, "How do community college faculty members describe their lived experiences regarding the recent economic crisis of 2008 and its impact…

A new study of endowments by the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) and the Commonfund Institute has brought good news to college and universities: While endowment returns dropped precipitously in fiscal year 2009 as a result of the financial crisis and accompanying slide in equity markets, they climbed to an…

This article reports that the credit crisis tying global financing systems into knots has left hundreds of colleges scrambling for cash to pay their bills and to cover the spiking interest on their debts. While it is still unclear to what extent the federal government's new $700-billion bailout package will help unwind the credit tangle, the…

The context in which boards are making endowment spending decisions has changed remarkably in the past year. In January 2008, Senators Max Baucus and Charles Grassley, chair and ranking minority member, respectively, of the Senate Finance Committee, cited "explosive college endowment growth" as evidence that college and university boards should…

"Spectacular error" sounds euphemistic compared to "devastating," "catastrophic," or "meltdown"--terms more commonly summoned to describe the credit crisis and ensuing global economic carnage. Whatever they are labeled, gross miscalculations on Wall Street are having a deleterious effect on college campuses across the country, with many…

Nestled in the mountainous, southeastern Mexican state of Puebla, the University of the Americas-Puebla has been a distinguished institution with close ties to the United States. It was a popular study-abroad choice and enjoyed accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. However, under the tenure of Pedro Angel Palou Garcia,…

The counterintuitive approach of the world's greatest value investor, Warren Buffett, may be the best hope for colleges and universities during this recession. Buffett's time-tested philosophy of seeking value and investing for the long term remains a sound approach, even if his short-term returns have declined along with those of the rest of the…

Managing college or university budget reduction involves more than careful matching of available dollars and essential and high priority programs. It is necessary to (1) have in place appropriate individual/personal policies and institutional policies and data; (2) take steps to decide on budget cuts; and (3) act to implement them. (MSE)

An informal survey of some New England colleges indicates that, in response to problems in the region's banking industry, school financial officers are monitoring their banks' credit ratings and managing investments more carefully. Consultants and investment advisors are also reporting increased anxiety among college officers and trustees around…

A survey of 300 college and university business officers investigated the extent of the institutions' financial difficulties. Results reveal administrators' perceptions of the reasons for and solutions to financial problems, factors in institutional stability or strength, plans to maintain or strengthen the institution's financial condition,…

The 18 chapters of this book are grouped into three sections. In the first, Causes of Fianncial Crisis, the change in public education from financial security to crisis is explored as it related to the public community college. These two chapters are titled External Factors and Internal Practices. The second section, Sources of Revenue, includes…

To stay healthy, legal education must enhance greatly its information, planning capacities, resources for management of financial risk, and development of investment capital. Planned diversification of risk could make survival of broad-based quality legal education possible; otherwise schools will be forced to accept any cash-bearing applicant.…