The financial and accreditation problems of the Union for Experimenting Colleges and Universities, an innovative institution that includes the Union Graduate School and the undergraduate University Without Walls, are examined. Also discussed is the Union's ability to retain its experimental character as it faces retrenchment. (JMD)

Discussion of foreign educational aid to developing nations covers the suppliers' monetary accounts of aid, true value of aid to the beneficiary, technical difficulties, high cost of aid, staffing problems, students abroad, political and cultural problems, and prospects. Data are included. (ND)

The basic assumptions built into the governance of higher education obstruct effective responses to problems influencing its decline. University leaders'"donnish" convictions about universality and professionalism hinder their ability to apportion scarce resources among competing missions and academic programs. A more centralized…

For a higher education institution to sustain excellence in the fundamental missions of teaching, research, and service, it must have a cultural context that encourages clarity of purpose, flexibility, creativity, tolerance, intelligence, meaningful communication, and willingness to learn new things and from past mistakes. All are characteristics…

Discusses the impact of fiscal contraction on community colleges. Explores how reduced state appropriations have adversely affected community college instruction and student support systems. Research shows that because instruction and student support services suffer when budget is reduced, fiscal contraction can hamper the ability of colleges to…

Debunks two fantasies: the feasibility of a free-market educational system and the idea that greater choice automatically means better schools. Public education is too labor-intensive and undercapitalized to be profitable. Communities need "skunk works" schools of choice to do research and development and smaller, collaboratively managed…

Identifies emerging issues and challenges facing lab schools nationwide as they attempt to build support for their programs. Offers recommendations for strengthening the roles lab programs play in the early childhood field, such as expecting staff to be involved in leadership activities (like outside workshops) and making facilities attractive to…

Ten years ago the new superintendent of District 11 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, learned the proposed budget was $12 million out of balance. Now the district has sound financial backing thanks to improving business practices. (MLF)

Rethinks the use of teachers, a school's most expensive and important resource. Four categories could benefit from restructuring: teacher and aide allocation/assignment, teacher compensation, student support services, and general and special program administration. Middletown, New York, actually improved its student:teacher ratio by using its…

While tenured professors at financially troubled institutions are facing hiring freezes, salary cuts, tight travel budgets, and reduced office help, four-year colleges and universities are doing whatever they can to avoid dismissing tenured faculty for financial reasons. Some institutions may be running out of alternatives. (MSE)

The college president is involved with fundraising, institutional promotion, public image efforts, and community support programs. The evolutionary process of presidential involvement in these areas was discovered in a study of private colleges (N=126) that had successfully weathered severe financial hardships. (MLW)

Superintendents of urban school districts are confronted by large classes; shortages of qualified staff, materials, and supplies; and inequitable funding. Despite their superintendent's herculean efforts to build strong community support, the Baltimore schools have the lowest per pupil expenditure among Maryland's largest school systems. (MLH)

Universities could increase their fiscal resources significantly through internal taxation. Internal taxation is a technique for obtaining flexibility in budgeting and making it possible for the university to support special programs, respond to special opportunities, retrieve resources from now inappropriate programs, and balance out the…

Reviews the history of student development to provide a context for discussing four major issues facing community colleges in the coming decade: quality reformation, educational technology, finance, and the definition of the community college mission. Reflects on the current status of the student development profession. (DMM)

Higher Education faces two issues in capital renewal and replacement: (1) quantifying and funding the accumulated backlog of capital needs due to deferred maintenance, and (2) developing an ongoing funding plan to ensure backlogs do not accumulate in the future. (MSE)