Benefit-cost analysis consists of establishing ratios of benefits to costs for a set of project variants. The decision rule is to select that project variant where the ratio is a maximum. This paper argues that specification and estimation errors can contribute to findings for large-scale systems of benefit-cost ratios approximating zero. The…

By making explicit the implicit assumptions about program costs and benefits, resource allocation in a nonprofit organization could be simplified. A rational scheme for implementing such a program might begin by using detailed interviews with program administrators to determine input and output scales. Following this, respondents could choose…

The operations of an institution can be viewed from three perspectives: (1) the "actual operating measurement" such as income and expenditures of a cost center at a point in time; (2) the "criterion" which reflects the established policy for a time period; and (3) the "efficiency level" wherein a balance between input and output is defined.…

This document (1) describes current PPBS techniques and their limitations for planning and budgeting in public higher education; (2) presents suggestions for PPBS applications in higher education systems, with emphases on the problems of identifying objectives, evaluating effectiveness, and structuring the program budget; and (3) analyzes the…

The edited presentations of the Accountability Through Evaluation Institute are given to provide insight into some problems and solutions regarding educational accountability. Presentations include "Educational Accountability" (Lee E. Wickline); "A Scheme for Evaluation" (Robert Armstrong, Terry D. Cornell, Robert Kraner, and…

Steps for taking the guesswork out of predicting a school's financial outlook include gathering extensive information on the school system's financial condition; sorting, assessing, and ranking the data; and organizing the information into a presentable, comprehensible form, if possible with the help of a microcomputer. (JBM)

Program budgeting is described as a means of enabling higher education to respond effectively to three major accountability concerns. They are (1) the long-term financial implications of a particular programmatic or policy decision, (2) determination of what is being paid for, and (3) understanding that the price being paid for a program is…

Data for an examination of budget analysis in continuing education were collected using personal interviews with the continuing program directors at four institutions. The institutions represented public and private, degree and nondegree continuing education programs. Despite practitioner-oriented data to draw upon, a literature review identified…

Budgetary control procedures for not-for-profit institutions are presented in this compilation of budgetary materials and ideas gathered at the Program for Institutional Administrators at the University of Notre Dame. Budgetary reporting and control are suggested as the most effective tools for coordinating and controlling the acquisition and use…

Every administrator bears primary responsibility for planning the accomplishment of those objectives and activities that fall in his area. When responsibility is relatively restricted, the informal and intuitive methods that constitute "sound judgment" suffice. However, as his area of responsibility widens to include increasingly complex…