In an ominously steady progression over the past decades, education in general, higher education in particular, and even honors education have increasingly been contextualized in the realm of the marketplace. Cost/benefit analyses of colleges and universities are examined; institutions in terms of their price to consumers (students and their…

Community colleges are under pressure to increase completion rates, prepare students for the workplace, and contain costs. Colleges need to know the financial implications of what are often perceived as routine decisions: course scheduling, program offerings, and the provision of support services. This chapter presents a methodology for estimating…

Mathematical model building for educational planning in this country has been heavily influenced by the USOE DYNAMOD Model, a computerized Markov-type or input-output model. However, the input-output method is structurally inadequate to reflect the true behavior of the educational system. To introduce some elements of decision making into the…

Cost-effectiveness represents an attempt to apply one methodology to decision-making in education. Three recent trends in the behavioral and social sciences are apparent: Rationalization in the decision process, institutionalization of research in education, and the beginning of a general theory of organizational behavior. The problem posed is how…

There are basically four dimensions to a systems analysis that we find in current educational research: (1) Collecting information, (2) analyzing input-output relationships, (3) deriving models built upon these relationships to evaluate alternatives and to derive feasible solutions, and (4) attempting to derive the best solution consistent with…

The parameters of an evaluation design determine the use to which the evaluation is to be put, the ultimate user of the results, and the capabilities of the school information system. Evaluation supports decisionmaking in program adoption and program improvement, as well as research for a better understanding of the educative process. An…

The author reviews five cost-effectiveness basic models including log-log correlational, general utility theory, simultaneous equations, nonlinear theoretical, and feedback. Several suggestions are made to improve the models and increase the domain of problems that can be considered by the models. In the second part of the paper, the author…

Many educational administrators are skeptical of school district attempts to use the planning-programing-budgeting systems (PPBS) tool. This skepticism seems, in large part, to be the result of two factors: (1) A general lack of understanding of the concrete operational steps involved in the implementation of PPBS, and (2) a feeling that the…

A model of cost-effectiveness is outlined which enables consideration of some non-financial, as well as financial, elements of educational systems at school or district levels. The model enables the decision-maker to compare educational outcomes of different units, to assess the impact of alternative levels of financial input, and to select…

In order to determine the value of cost-benefit analysis to adult educators, this paper discusses the concepts involved and how they are being operationalized in adult education. The specific technique is discussed within the general framework of systems approach. A survey of current usage reveals that it has thus far been limited primarily to…

The least understood of complex systems is that which produces educated people. Superficially, many key elements of a manufacturing organization are part of the system: a product, product tolerance limits, methods for assessing product deviation, and a feed-back system for making compensatory adjustments. In layman's terms these elements are:…

This report explores some techniques that could assist educational managers in their attempts to arrive at more optimal input and output mixes. Following a review of the literature on input-output analyses in education and a description of the Pennsylvania Educational Quality Assessment Program (the basis of the present study), an empirical…

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…

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…