If schools are to be realistic, effective, and educational, they must meet their clientele's basic needs including religious needs. If public schools wish to defuse public dissatisfaction and to provide a rich education for all students, they must boldly develop plans and programs which are genuinely pluralistic. (CJ)

Colleges and universities have adjusted the packaging and targeting of student aid that may be more effective in reaching an institution's objectives in lean times, including increasing parent contributions, reducing the unmet need percentage, changing pricing policies, using quotas, revising capital campaigns, tapping alumni, and capitalizing on…

A 50-state survey found that 22 states have policies for determining tuition and fees, based on state education costs, cost indexes, or peer institutions' charges. Tuition may vary by institutional level and students' graduate or undergraduate status, full- or part-time attendance, and residence in or out of state. (RW)

Since 1978, the Diocese of Oakland, California, has operated the Family Aid-Catholic Education (FACE) program, which raises funds from local businesses and philanthropic organizations to provide partial tuition assistance to deserving low income families and to offer supplemental funding for innovative programing to inner-city Catholic schools.…

A new source of students, workers eligible for tuition aid plans offered as incentives or negotiated by unions, is seen as a significant development for higher education. Some worker education programs are described. Low participation rates are seen as the result of lack of information. (MLW)

A survey of 787 colleges and universities investigated institutions' payment and pricing practices designed to attract and retain students. Issues examined include acceptance of credit cards, cash discounts, prepayment options, differential pricing based on credits or programs, and the rationales for and results of the policies. Results reflect…

Detailed knowledge of how an institution obtains and expends its resources forces faculty to look at the whole picture of an institution. The budget process should be one in which the various institutional interests achieve mutual recognition and consensus about policies, people, and perquisites. (MLW)

Strategies include cutting costs to make college more attractive, building financial aid by raising tuition, seeking more government assistance, raising the perceived value of higher education, and raising the actual value of higher education. (MSE)

Three plans for reforming the financing of students wishing to attend college, therefore improving college affordability, are outlined: (1) improving the college loan system; (2) mitigating high tuition with high student aid; and (3) making comprehensive changes at all levels of the college finance system (the Plan of the National Commission on…

Shrinking state funding and pressure for accountability are forcing institutions of higher education to overhaul their missions, take stock of their spending, and inevitably, reorganize themselves as they prepare for an increasingly competitive college market. Data on average state tuition increase, and appropriations to higher education are…

A pricing model is offered, based on retention of current students, that colleges can use to determine appropriate tuition. A computer-based model that quantifies the relationship between tuition elasticity and projected net return to the college was developed and applied to determine an appropriate tuition rate for a small, private liberal arts…

The method used by an elite private university to assess the effects of its student aid policy on enrollment is described. A checklist helps guide preliminary assessment of financing strategies to identify areas of particular concern, by measuring ratios or trends in 10 financial, enrollment, and financial aid indicators. (MSE)

A national study shows tuition at public colleges and universities has increased three times the rate of inflation in the last year. Private four-year colleges' tuition was up only 7 percent. Tables presenting tuition and fees for 1991-92 and 1992-93 for over 3,000 U.S. institutions are presented, also indicating out-of-state charges for 1992-93.…

Open University (United Kingdom) surveyed 33 undergraduate students to determine factors which led to transfers from the Open University to other campus universities. Reasons for transfer included to speed up qualification, course availability, grants, personal reasons, costs, and university prestige. Problems and benefits of transferring to…

State legislatures' 1998 sessions have produced an array of new laws and programs intended to improve access to college: by overhauling higher education systems, particularly two-year colleges; creating or expanding scholarship programs; increasing appropriations substantially so public colleges can hold down tuition; and helping students avoid…