Back when markets hinged on local contacts, product standardization wasn't a concern. When higher education was thought to be mainly about educating citizens, standardization wasn't much of a concern, either. Standardization has come later to higher education than to other commodities markets, but it has arrived. As with other commodities, unit…

Replies to Mary McKeown's critique of an "Economics of Education Review" paper on budget control. Derides her objection to "budgeteer" terminology and her definition of budgeting as a planning function only. Assails her for being more practitioner than theorist, for fearing interdepartmental competition, and for misunderstanding authors' regard…

Reviews two papers appearing in this "Economics of Education Review" issue. Faults M.J. Bowman, B. Millot, and E. Schiefelbein's tax burden study for excluding background information on educational goals in France, Chile, and Malaysia. Criticizes L. R. Jones, F. Thompson, and W. Zumeta for viewing budgeting as limiting expenditures, rather than…

Between 1986 and 2004, textbook prices rose 186 percent in the United States, or slightly more than six percent per year. Meanwhile, other prices rose only about three percent per year. This paper examines the economic reasons why textbook prices have escalated so briskly and what reasonable alternatives are available that might slow down these…

The recommendations of James B. Conant in the 1950s led to high school consolidation across the country. Although the surviving small schools have weaknesses, they have benefits as well. (JM)

Focuses on techniques used to gather data on costs of library and information services. Uses of library cost data are identified, including setting prices for services, making informed management decisions, and communicating with funding agencies. (CLB)

The costs of assessment, which was identified as a condition for achieving excellence in undergraduate education by the Study Group on the Conditions of Excellence in American Higher Education, are addressed. Two questions considered deal with (1) the unit of analysis and (2) what to count. The unit of analysis can be the individual student,…

Two articles explore the process of budgeting for library technical services and the impact of automation on this process in terms of equipment expenditures. The second article describes the retrenchment and fund raising activities of a public library in financial difficulty and their effects on future plans for the library. (CLB)

A procedure for developing a costing model is described. Limitations of a cost analysis are also reviewed, with attention to the problems of handling joint products, obtaining accurate faculty effort data, measuring educational outputs, and calculating marginal costs. A researcher charged with developing a costing model is faced with the task of…

Administrative and empirical factors affecting the relationship between changing workloads and concomitant budget adjustments are examined in this analysis of the funding structure by which state aid to each California community college is adjusted for increases or decreases in average daily attendance (ADA). The report first describes current…

Thirty-two papers on performance indicators are presented based on the conference themes of performance of the higher education system at the national level, institutional evaluation, and assessment of staff and students. Papers and authors include the following: "Higher Education Systems at National Level" (A. Thompson); "The CNAA…