Use of education finance data is ubiquitous. Yet, because the academic calendar circumscribes two calendar years, researchers have linked the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to three different dates: fall, spring, and academic fiscal years. We demonstrate that linking the CPI to these different academic years results in identifying different trends in…

The "proud-parent" attitude of states towards higher education between 1945 and 1970--due to the baby boom, the technological contributions that research universities had made to the war effort, and the GI Bill--began to cool in the late 1960s, when inflation and increasing demands from other state services such as Medicaid, prisons,…

In this dissertation, I offer two independent studies that each contribute to the literature on the college choices. The first paper examines the impact of Arizona's merit based scholarship on college enrollment decisions. I find that both enrollment and tuition and fees increased at Arizona's three large public institutions after the…

This annual report updates the tuition and fee prices published by all of the public higher education institutions in the WICHE member states. It is the product of an annual survey administered to the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) offices in each state, except for states such as Arizona, Idaho and South Dakota, where the data…

The study examined the relationship between recession and alumni contributions to institutions of higher education for operational expenses and capital expenditures that include property, buildings, and equipment. Identifying variables that may decrease alumni contributions is important because decreased state funding for higher education…

This study examined the ways that the "public good" of higher education is being conceptualised as economic benefits and cost/benefit rationalities in the current economic downturn. Based on the case of Arizona in the United States, a discourse analysis of speeches was performed on the way public, state and institutional leaders…

In the wake of the economic downturn that began in 2008, public schools face serious and seemingly long-term fiscal challenges. Rising pension costs are a particular concern for school districts, whose dollars help prop up state retirement plans that often have substantial unfunded liabilities. Yet public school districts have no alternatives;…

The nature of the changing economic climate has resulted in drastic changes in the postsecondary education landscape. With record numbers of adult learners seeking to further their education, they are faced with numerous outlets, including traditional liberal universities and a variety of for-profit colleges and vocational schools that have…

Building on its previous work examining education and the economy, the Alliance for Excellent Education (the Alliance), with generous support from State Farm[R], analyzed the economies of all fifty states and the District of Columbia to determine the economic benefits that states could see by improving high school graduation rates. Using a…

Human capital is the key to economic development. Without highly-skilled workers, states and territories cannot attract the productive businesses they need. That makes higher education a key element of any governor's growth strategy. But many public colleges and universities are struggling to produce more graduates. Overall graduation rates often…

American public higher education is in trouble. Besieged by declining state and Federal support for more than 30 years, public colleges and universities are facing a "game-changing" set of challenges that threaten to alter the very nature of the institutions. As two recessions withered state budgets in the first decade of the 21st…

A handful of recession-ravaged states have kicked off a new fiscal year without balanced budgets, leaving public school educators in limbo as they struggled to manage spending amid dwindling resources and political bickering over unprecedented budget gaps. The crisis remains most severe in California, which, as of last week, faced a $26.3 billion…

The number of U.S. teacher-librarians has greatly diminished despite advocacy efforts by stakeholders. This case study investigated the factors that led governing board members in a mid-sized urban high school district to retain certified teacher-librarian positions despite a major economic crisis. Themes constructed through the analysis were:…

With colleges and universities struggling to minimize the effects of the troubled economy, it certainly isn't an easy time to be a CIO. This article presents an interview with a panel of higher education IT leaders about best practices for steering IT through economic crisis. Panelists included Jan Biros, associate VP for instructional technology…

What a difference a year makes. In June 2008, "AZ Views" reported that "Arizonans have a strong sense of job security, despite the national economic slump and the state's budget crisis." That is no longer true, as this edition of "AZ Views" shows, and Arizona's economic situation arguably is the best example of the…