States and school districts are facing unprecedented financial pressure due to the continued poor performance of the United States's economy. Dramatic shortfalls in funding due to reduced tax collections were held off for 2 years thanks to federal stimulus funds, but with these revenues already consumed and little likelihood of more in the near…

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…

This article considers the role of higher education in state budgets. It empirically models and tests the balance wheel hypothesis in a robust framework. The balance wheel model posits that in good economic times, higher education is an attractive area for states to fund and tends to be funded at a higher rate than other state budget categories.…

When people talk about the future of public universities, they are usually talking about the flagship state universities. Flagship state universities have greatly increased expenditures in the past decade. The goal of the flagship institutions has been to compete with the best private universities, based on the assumptions that state funds will be…

Colleges and universities, like corporations and other nonprofit organizations, are subject to periodic fluctuations in the economy and public support. Thus, the question is not whether they will confront financial problems but rather when and how. This article describes how institutions and boards can detect budgets in crisis, provides principles…

The strategy of deep selective budget cuts for institutions is not always the soundest policy, since the choice between these and across-the-board cuts is an oversimplification. The literature on rescission shows no instance in which a university administration has cut the same percentage across-the-board. (MLW)

By terminating 26 degree programs, 3 departments, and 3 schools and colleges, the State University of New York at Albany generated a pool of resource for reallocation to programs with greater need and priority. The difficulties of accomplishing this and the lessons for other campuses are described. (Author/MLW)

The relative incidence of across-the-board cuts in higher education for all institutions that experienced decreasing revenues between 1976-1977 and 1980-1981 was studied. Factors that affect the extent to which administrators employed across-the-board cuts versus selective cuts were also assessed. Attention was focused on the effects of the…

An AGB- and NACUBO-sponsored survey showed that "wish lists" are accumulating overdue major maintenance projects because energy costs are consuming physical plant budgets. Problem areas are discussed: budget "guesstimation," preventive maintenance, deferred maintenance inventory, the APPA accounting format, resource allocation,…

Describes recent financial problems in support service provision faced by France's fourth largest university due to a steep rise in operating costs, a government mandate to maintain high academic and research standards, decreased resources, and efforts to improve resource use in the period 1977-81. (MSE)

Facing severe budget reductions in 1991 despite institutional restructuring in response to budget cuts in the mid-80s, the Chancellor's Ad Hoc Budget Planning Group at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) proposes a process for fiscal change while aiming to retain institutional excellence. A first section states the current problem, reviews…

The development of program discontinuance guidelines and their implementation at the University of Michigan is described. Draft policy guidelines from the University of Pittsburgh, Michigan State University, and University of Wisconsin, and guidelines on academic freedom and tenure from the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) were…

The University of Lancaster's five-year development plans (1972-1977) that were submitted to the University Grants Committee are reviewed. Events that have caused significant changes in the plans, including inflation and the change in student choice of majors, are related, and the usefulness of the University's planning processes is assessed. (JMD)

College health services are examined regarding (1) their relation to financial constraints on higher education in general; (2) the need to adjust to these restraints; and (3) the need to develop broader missions for the health service as an integral part of the institution. (MJB)

Reports the results of a national survey of school board members' opinions about what parts of school district budgets could be cut in the face of a hypothetical 30-percent reduction in funds. First to go would be "executive administration" expenses. (JM)