College rankings have become a powerful influence in higher education. While the determinants of educational quality are not clearly defined, college rankings designate an institution's standing in a numerical order based on quantifiable measurements that focus primarily on institutional resources. Previous research has identified the…

State support for public higher education has been a primary concern for decades. Online education has been identified previously as an alternative revenue source that can offer financial relief to colleges and universities. This study uses IPEDS data and a fixed effects regression approach to examine whether public universities increase their…

Economic recessions impact higher education institutions in complex ways. Several analyses have examined the influence of the 2007-2009 recession on tuition, enrollments, revenues, and expenditures, but the connection of these resource allocation patterns to a student success outcome--namely, retention--is limited. This study examined…

While much is known about faculty time allocation, we know very little about how traditional managerial factors influence faculty time allocation behaviors. We know even less about the possible downsides associated with relying on these traditional managerial factors. Using survey data from the National Science Foundation/Department of Energy…

Recognizing the current administration's focus on improving postsecondary access, this study examines resource allocation patterns and the predictive power of these resources in increasing the likelihood of 2- and 4-year college enrollment among low-income students. Using data from the Educational Longitudinal Study, college choice decision-making…

We examine the extent to which readily available data at a large public university can be used to a priori identify at-risk students who may benefit from targeted retention efforts. Although it is possible to identify such students, there remains an inevitable tradeoff in any resource allocation between not treating the students who are likely to…

Higher education employees often participate in university-sponsored defined contribution pension plans that place the investment decision responsibility upon them. In order to examine investment decision-making behavior with retirement savings plans we investigated attitude-mediated, individual difference determinants of risky decision-making…

Building upon earlier work by Camp, Gibbs, and Masters II, (1988). "The Journal of Higher Education" 59(6): 652-667 and Wenger and Girard, (2000). "Research in Higher Education" 41(2):195-207, we present a model for allocating funds for salary increases to faculty lines within an academic unit at a public research university. The model first…

Summarizes a set of data designed to cast light on the comparative performance of the academic departments at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the production of graduate degrees and focuses on the methodology involved in developing statistical reports useful for such purposes. (Editor)

Regression techniques are used frequently to analyze the relationships between university activity variables and the needs for different categories of resources. The least median of squares (LMS) technique is discussed. The parameters of some regression equations are reestimated by means of this robust regression technique. (Author/MLW)

Many institutions of higher education increasingly are concerned with retention and graduation rates. Focusing on private Baccalaureate Liberal and General colleges and universities, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between institutional selectivity and institutional expenditures and retention and graduation rates. Framed…

The perceived success of EDUCOM's Financial Planning Model (EFPM) and the relationship between success and organizational services--the integrator functions--that support EFPM's use are examined. The study finds that the integrator functions are significantly related to success. (Author/MLW)

The NSF's University Science Statistics Program Integrated Data Base and CHI Research's bibliometric database were used in a study of the relationships among research resources, as measured by R&D expenditures, and research output, as measured by the quantity and visibility of scientific journal articles. (Author/MLW)

The concept of student engagement is receiving increased attention from researchers, higher education leaders, and the general public in recent years. This increased attention represents a shift from the more traditional "resource and reputation" model of academic quality to a model that emphasizes institutional best practices and student…

In assessing the feasibility of a funding formula for Kansas state institutions, information was gathered on similar institutions in other states pertaining to academic program, locale, enrollment, and expenditure patterns. Results were produced that are credible by three tests and respond effectively to some issues concerning the funding process.…