To cover the costs of college, students and their families are using loans, grants, savings, and, increasingly, a specific type of college savings plan known as a "529." These planned are named after a Section of the Internal Revenue Code that confers tax exemption to qualified state tuition programs. There are two types of 529 plans:…

This CRitical Issue Bibliography (CRIB) Sheet lists resources that focus on maintaining the financial health of an institution of higher education. It describes resources in three areas: (1) tuition strategies; (2) cost containment; and (3) fundraising. The focus of the bibliography, however, is on cost containment and efficiency, and it details…

The literature on financial issues in higher education is limited. Six major themes in the literature in l996 include the reduced federal role and increased state role in funding; managing costs, including deferred maintenance and capital spending in times of shrinking resources; concern about rising tuition and its impact on access; concern about…

Strategies and problems facing the small private liberal arts colleges as a group are described. Many of these schools have weathered the financial emergencies of recent years by cutting expenditures to the point where the quality of education is threatened. New measures have been called for to reduce the tuition gap between private and public…

This monograph explores issues related to school choice by examining available evidence for the success of choice plans. It begins with an overview of the choice movement and then describes several specific plans that illustrate the various plan types. It concludes with an appraisal of how choice will change and shape urban school reform in the…

School choice plans have been widely adopted, and most urban areas have a limited choice plan of some sort. This digest presents an overview of different choice strategies by reviewing the experiences of several urban areas. Minnesota has statewide open enrollment for all students, making all public schools throughout the state open to all…

Current educational and fiscal trends have combined to create a complex management environment in which two-year colleges have had to forgo long-range planning and concentrate on the immediate problem of dealing with ongoing change. The dilemma caused by this change is evident in the intensive reexamination of what community colleges should be and…

The literature on college students covers five themes: (1) financing, (2) disciplinary issues, (3) diversity, (4) retention, and (5) students' roles in campus innovations and change, although most of the literature is devoted to funding and student discipline. Most of the articles dealing with financing focus on the rising cost of tuition and…

In the United States, society and individuals share the expenses of collegiate education, making it possible to provide higher education for a much larger percentage of youth than in many countries. At the same time, maintenance of low tuitions through public subsidies has provided reasonable assurance of accessibility and equality of public…

Based on a survey conducted by the American Association of Junior Colleges (AAJC), this directory provides information on 1,091 community, junior, and technical colleges and two-year branch campuses in the United States, its territories, and selected other countries, including data on 1969-70 enrollments, personnel, and student costs. Following…