Verification is a federally mandated process that requires selected students to further attest that the information reported on their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is accurate and complete. In this brief, we estimate institutional costs of administrating the FAFSA verification mandate and consider variation in costs by…

This article presents results from the 2012 National Survey of Access and Finance Issues conducted by the National Council of State Directors of Community Colleges (NCSDCC), an affiliated council of the American Association of Community Colleges, and includes a comparison of survey results from previous years dating back to 2003, with the…

An increase of over 100% in program expenditures for the Pell Grant program over a five year period of time, from $14.7 billion in the 2007-08 award year to $33.4 billion in the 2011-12 award year, places an otherwise popular program under scrutiny. This article considers the factors and options informing federal policy related to the Pell Grant…

Enrollment management is a process critical to most small private universities that rely on tuition for a significant portion of their operating budgets. Often these universities rely on outside consultants to help them in performing this important process. This case study describes how university assets were used to create an interactive…

Over the last decade, almost all of the country's 1,100 community colleges have begun fund raising, some with great success. They are beginning to compete with larger institutions for foundation money. The money supplements operating budgets, and many colleges are building endowments that enable them to offer scholarships and keep student costs…

Using national data from various sources, this study investigates the influence of financial aspects of state higher education policy on college completion. It found that college completion is positively associated with total state grants as a percentage of appropriations of state tax funds for operating expenses of higher education and state…

Colleges and universities have special budgetary needs and problems and while their business support systems can benefit from many cost-saving measures, their core operations--teaching and research--cannot. Colleges are labor-intensive, must stay abreast of knowledge, must adjust to inflation and have been increasing student aid. (MLW)

Many private colleges are reporting the lowest percentage tuition increases in a decade or more, four to five% at many institutions, but most increases still outpace inflation. A major reason for increasing tuition is to meet rising demand for student aid. Also, many institutional expenses are higher than for the average consumer, and facilities…

As part of a broader trend to cut costs and remain affordable, many private colleges are keeping tuition increases to a minimum. Institutions are cutting operating expenses and reducing financial aid, while trying to raise faculty salaries and install new technology. Nonetheless, many of the smaller tuition hikes still outpace inflation. (MSE)

A study on sex equity by the National Collegiate Athletic Association found men's college athletic teams receive 70 percent of athletic scholarship money, 77 percent of operating money, and 83 percent of recruiting money spent by colleges playing big-time sports, despite virtually equal enrollment of men and women. Interpretations of the data…

Provides data on undergraduate enrollment, athletes (number and proportion of enrollment), operating expenses (amount/proportion), recruiting expenses (amount/proportion), sports-related student financial aid (amount/proportion), football program revenue and expenses, and total athletics budgets for the 1996-97 academic year for 306 institutional…

The proportion of women in top collegiate sports programs, 38%, and women's share of athletics budgets increased slightly in 1996-1997. Men still received almost twice as much money as women for operating expenses, recruiting, and athletically related financial aid. Advocates for women's athletics find the gains too small. College football…

This chapter argues that a relatively high tuition, high financial aid policy is the most equitable and efficient way to fund community college operating budgets and promote access.

While tuition is increasing faster than the cost of living, a longer perspective indicates that colleges and universities are victims of past rather than current inflation. Fiscal pressures will continue for some time, reflected in higher tuition, but the rate of return on investment in a college degree should rise. (MSE)

Revenues of doctoral, comprehensive, general baccalaureate, and two-year private and public institutions are outlined by source (tuition and fees, appropriations, grants and contracts, private support, endowments, and others); expenditures are tabulated by function (instruction, research, public service, libraries, academic support, student…