Public universities are not for-profit businesses with an easy-to-understand bottom line: their financial reports are not designed to convey information to the public fully or to reflect all the costs of teaching and research. Financial reports do track every dollar in accordance with the accounting rules required by auditors, but they do not…

The basic assumptions built into the governance of higher education obstruct effective responses to problems influencing its decline. University leaders'"donnish" convictions about universality and professionalism hinder their ability to apportion scarce resources among competing missions and academic programs. A more centralized…

Provides a taxonomy of cost containment actions for use in response to budget crises where revenues fall short of expenditures. Indicates four levels of actions: tactical temporary and tactical permanent, which have low to moderate impact on school operations; and strategic temporary and strategic permanent, which have moderate to high impact. (13…

Financial pressures are forcing the closure of some teaching hospitals and retrenchment using such strategies as development of ambulatory care and satellite facilities, merging with or acquiring other hospitals, and shortening patient hospital stays. A table lists revenues and profit margins for the 20 largest university-owned teaching hospitals.…

In recent years, Trenton State College (New Jersey) has focused its efforts on providing quality undergraduate programs to reverse an outmigration of college students from the state. When it faced severe financial difficulties, the students actively supported a fee increase designed to help the institution maintain quality education. (Author/MSE)

Responses of southern states to revenue shortfalls and their significance for public schools and higher education are examined in this report. Many different actions have been take to address state fiscal problems: most strategies require changes in revenue polices that increase taxes and fees or reallocate funds, and many have mandated spending…

Small increases in research and development funding and the state of the economy pose serious challenges to research universities. It is unlikely that the financial pressures will moderate. Research universities will be challenged to downsize by restructuring resources without compromising their quality. (Author/MSE)

Three categories of options for colleges dealing with reduced resources are defensive reactions, constructive structuring and flexibility, and long-term new directions. Areas toward which resources need to be redirected, however, include broadening educational options for minority youth and encouraging client-centered and goal-oriented learning.…

This report documents the impact upon Ontario (Canada) universities of a continuous decline in university funding over the past two decades, coupled with major cutbacks in the past year, that have reduced provincial government grants, partially deregulated university tuition fees, and reorganized student aid initiatives. In text and 23 figures the…