A spate of school shootings in the U.S. has prompted policymakers to address the public's growing perception that our schools are unsafe. As education policymakers continue to press for additional security initiatives, it is important to understand the costs borne by school systems for these programs. Thus far, the scholarly literature is silent…

This article discusses the impact of changing student demographics on financing education and on our national wellbeing. We begin by examining the research of current student demographics and their relationship to learning and education costs. We then calculate a 1% cost factor from the average per-pupil expenditure based on the 2011 "Digest…

Argues that a cost of education index presented in the winter 1980 issue may create inequities in the treatment of both taxpayers and pupils, mainly because of its evaluation of teacher salary costs. (IRT)

In this article, the authors present the results of a research study in which they used two national datasets to construct and examine a model that estimates relative faculty instructional costs for specific undergraduate degree programs and also identifies differences in these costs by region and institutional type. They conducted this research…

The author defends his conceptualization of a cost of education index against criticisms made in the preceding article. The defense focuses on the availability of teachers and the impact of this availability on education costs. (IRT)

Outlines one approach for assessing and measuring the differences in the costs of education services and reports the results of an application of this approach to data for the state of California. (Author/IRT)

Except under specific conditions, adjusting state school finance plans to compensate for differences in the salaries paid to teachers has the potential for creating even greater inequities rather than for reducing existing inequities. (Author/IRT)

Discusses six propositions concerning higher education contradicting prevailing pricing wisdom: high demand rarely drives prices up; market share increases rarely drive prices down; competition drives prices up; tuition prices are only loosely tied to delivery costs; student tuition is only loosely tied to price; and high tuition prices do not…

Presents a study evaluating the impact of rapid college enrollment increases on local housing prices at Purdue University between 1960 and 1980. Includes four tables and an appendix. (MD)

Discusses problems in establishing teacher cost indices on which to base adjustments in state educational aid. Presents 1973-1980 data on differentials in teacher salaries and revenue potentials among Florida school districts to show that salary differences between districts can change rapidly. (RW)

Analyzes the use of different measures of sparsity of pupil population and discusses the relationship of pupil population density to the equality of educational programs. Describes in detail development of an index used in Florida to measure the extra cost of providing equal educational opportunity in sparsely settled school districts. (JG)

Discusses potential problems that may arise with state school finance formulas based on the weighted pupil concept when special education students are weighted heavily for state aid purposes and local school districts are free to classify students as "special." (JG)

Reviews literature on cost-of-living adjustments. Analyzes advantages and disadvantages of three alternative strategies for updating the Texas Cost-of-Education Index used in its school finance formula: A comparable-wage index, a cost-of-services index, and a cost-of-outcomes index. (Contains 38 references.) (PKP)

Examines the financial ramifications of special education, emphasizing the role of state and federal government and focusing on the use of cost indexes and weighted-pupil or weighted-unit funding to allocate financial resources for special education. (JG)