In November 2021, The National Audit Office published a report on financial sustainability of schools noting that schools had experienced considerable financial pressures in recent years. The NAO report found that while most schools were financially sustainable, local authority (LA) maintained schools were more likely to be experiencing cost…

This paper examines the financial transparency and accountability practices before and after the 2023 state takeover of the Houston Independent School District (HISD). Superintendent Mike Miles and his Board of Managers reallocated critical district resources towards troubling new "priorities," while the district was facing a sizable…

Background/purpose: This research paper investigates the lessons Taiwan can learn from Indonesia's bilingual education policy, especially regarding abolishing the "Rintisan Sekolah Bertaraf Internasional" (RSBI) initiative. In line with this objective, the paper presents recommendations based on these lessons. Materials/methods: This…

UMass Boston has been a campus in turmoil for the past 20 months. Internal upheaval first became public in January 2017 when the UMass Board of Trustees (BoT) refused to extend Chancellor Keith Motley's contract. In March 2017 the trustees disclosed that the campus was facing a budget deficit of up to $30 million with just three months remaining…

In 2009, the federal government passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to combat the effects of the Great Recession and state revenue shortfalls, directing over $97 billion to school districts. In this chapter, we draw lessons from this distribution of fiscal stimulus funding to inform future federal intervention in school…

The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) undertook a survey of staff at postsecondary institutions to understand the impact of COVID-19 on their working lives. The survey shows that the pandemic has amplified long-standing issues in the post-secondary education sector. This brief provides recommendations to address the issues facing…

Private colleges have grown accustomed to increasing tuition and fees to meet their expenses. These policies have contributed to the increased college cost for Americans. Most American students and parents have believed that the higher education improved their life by offering better job opportunities, higher salaries and thus a better standard of…

The volatile economic environment in Zimbabwe, which is characterised by persistent hyperinflation has exposed the education access inequalities in Zimbabwe's public Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The persisting harsh economic conditions in Zimbabwe have further worsened the decline in higher education funding in addition to the budgetary…

During and for many years after the 2008-10 Great Recession, financial crises in districts across the country triggered varying state involvement in those districts' finances and governance, up to and including complete takeover. While these actions were most prominent in a handful of states, all states have laws that enable them to intervene in…

In this new Policy Note, Rachel Hewitt, HEPI Director of Policy and Advocacy, reports on the results of a new poll on of students on their views on what should happen to universities in financial difficulty. Key points: (1) most students (83%) are confident their own institution is in a strong financial position; (2) over three-quarters of…

The year 2018 marked the 10th anniversary of the global economic crisis of 2008. In Europe, austerity has been a constant ever since the crisis. This article critically engages with recent institutional and ideological developments in the small Baltic state of Estonia. The article investigates the structural reforms and prevailing ideology in…

Budgeting is inherently political. Too often, short-term goals overrun long-term institutional interest. By presenting the many layers of budgeting models with a clear, comparative framework, author Larry Goldstein, demonstrates the organic link between planning and budgeting, making it crystal clear that budgets and plans represent two sides of…

Due to significant government cuts to Higher Education funding in Southern European systems, their already underfunded universities were forced to increasingly compete for students as sources of additional revenue. Concurrently, families and students that continued to afford participation in Higher Education became more selective when choosing a…

Issues regarding the steadily rising cost of college education, especially among disadvantaged college students, have gained enormous attention among scholars due to the recent global financial crisis. This has led government and colleges to outline financial literacy empowerment initiatives. With an emphasis on financial literacy and education,…

In this paper, we draw on previous conceptual work and theories pertaining to historical waves of reform, in order to reflect upon and locate the recent and current changes in the UK Higher Education (HE) landscape. Moreover, we consider the potentially catastrophic outcomes and consequences facing some HE institutions, and the sector as a whole,…