This paper compares and contrasts different strategies to balance academic institutions' operating budgets. Some strategies use economic theory to recommend a budgeting technique, others use management methods to cut cost, and some strategies use a management accounting approach to reach a balanced budget. Through the use of a simplified numerical…

Colleges and universities are thinking strategically about their business models. Reductions in state and federal appropriations, endowment volatility, fundraising uncertainties, and limits on tuition increases are creating persistent shortfalls in operating budgets. This all comes when institutions are being called upon to enroll and graduate…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss how activity-based costing (ABC) technique can be applied in the context of higher education institutions. It also discusses the obstacles and challenges to the successful implementation of activity-based management (ABM) in the higher education environment. Design/methodology/approach: This paper…

Is it possible to get an "Ivy" education for $7,376 a year? Can a college provide high-quality undergraduate education at a reasonable cost? In this paper, the author explores if cost can be reduced and quality improved through the use of new "value-designed" models of undergraduate education. A value-designed model allows one to appeal to…

The latest installment of the Fordham Institute's "Creating Sound Policy for Digital Learning" series investigates one of the more controversial aspects of digital learning: How much does it cost? In this paper, the Parthenon Group uses interviews with more than fifty vendors and online-schooling experts to estimate today's average…

A research study was conducted for the Office of Telecommunications Policy to determine the capital outlay and operating costs of community antenna television (CATV) systems. Six major tasks were undertaken: 1) the development of a body of technical information about CATV; 2) the production of a complete work breakdown structure; 3) a cost…

This report presents results of the assessment of economic impacts of a year-round school (YRS) program as it operated in one junior high school and its four feeder elementary schools. Chapter 2 presents the theoretical background of the cost model and Chapter 3 details the model itself. Chapter 4 is the application of the model to the particular…

This paper offers an analytical framework to evaluate the cost and potential economic benefits of industrial day care. The principal objectives of this analysis are to: define the inputs (goods and services) required to provide a given day care program; develop cost factors which can be used to estimate a range of costs for any particular type of…

Cost-income studies are designed to serve two functions in instructional program evaluation. First, they act as the indicator of the economic value of a program. This economic value in conjunction with the other educational values needed in program evaluation allow for the most realistic appraisal of program worth. Second, if the studies show a…

Analyzes the real operating costs of child care centers providing quality care in order to establish a model from which funding agencies and child administrators can plan and evaluate budgets to enhance the quality of child care. (Author/MP)

A total of 114 independent colleges and universities were surveyed to estimate the impact of changes in social security taxes over a nine-year period from 1979 through 1987. The model used in the November 1977 NAICU study is retained in this study, which has been expanded to include more detailed tables by institutional type. The tables can…

Presents a "profit" model for continuing education (in a university setting but applicable to all continuing education operations) based upon the organization of profit and cost centers to help develop an administrative structure and control mechanisms to achieve profit planning. Tables illustrate different elements in the model. (MF)

A study was conducted to determine if the centralization of playback machine operations for the national free library program would be feasible, economical, and desirable. An alternative model of playback machine services was constructed and compared with existing network operations considering both cost and service. The alternative model was…

This manual is intended for use by district officials undertaking analysis of the costs of year-round school (YRS) programs. To analyze the budgetary impact of YRS, it is necessary to determine the actual costs incurred with the YRS program and to compare these costs to expenses that would be incurred without the YRS program. A simulated…

This study involved the development and use of a cost model to assess the economic consequences of the introduction of a year-round school (YRS) program. The cost model has two components. First, a comprehensive accounting procedure details the costs unique to a year-round calendar and estimates the costs that would have been incurred if the…