While the desirability of small classes seems an article of faith among educators, a review of the research indicates that class size in itself has rarely shown a substantial effect on educational achievement. The research itself has been flawed by the impossibility of determining or measuring all the variables that changes in class size can…

This study focuses on the benefits of early retirement as a policy to ease the adjustment process as public school districts and state universities encounter the problem of declining enrollments. Early retirement as one means of reduction in force, and as a means of saving money, has been adopted by 36 Illinois school districts. This paper…

Using a pilot version of an instrument designed to probe perceptions of undergraduates in areas related to teaching as a profession and the desirability of teacher education programs, this study begins to develop a base upon which to formulate strategies for understanding and dealing with declining enrollment in teacher education programs. A…

This report describes a study to review and interpret existing trend data on vocational education enrollments and teachers. In the first section purposes of the study, research questions, and methodology are defined. Section 2 presents documented historical and projected trend data on vocational education enrollments and staff, together with…

A questionnaire survey of 1,506 teachers in 89 elementary and secondary schools in eastern Massachusetts examined teachers' reactions to declining enrollments and school district retrenchment policies. The hypotheses tested suggest that, in districts whose reduction-in-force (RIF) policies include performance evaluations as well as seniority as…

Current evidence on the prospective decline of the labor market for Ph.D.'s is examined. Focus is on the effects of the decline in academic hiring in the quality and quantity of scholarship and research. After an introduction to the problem, the second chapter summarizes the evidence on the impending decline, maintaining that (1) research is a…

Key issues for public higher education and reaction of various states to deal with the problems caused by fiscal constraints are addressed. The following four problems are considered: (1) enrollment decline; (2) enrollment fluctuation, regardless of the enrollment trend; (3) changes in the student body composition; and (4) budgetary reductions in…

Problems confronting higher education are considered from the perspective of state coordinating agencies. Ten obvious problems are as follows: adjusting to new enrollment patterns; attempting to close the cost-income gap; expenditures increasing more rapidly than income; supporting the capacity for research and advanced study; meeting new…

Consequences of the first allocation of public aid to independent schools in British Columbia in 1979 and 1980 were explored in this study. Interviews and questionnaires were used to query principals, education committee (or school board) members in private schools, and superintendents and presidents of teachers' associations in public schools.…

This collection stresses the need for informed and more sophisticated marketing techniques for college admissions officers to help them cope with the decreasing number of prospective college students. The importance of the college admissions office is increasing as admissions becomes a more crucial element to the colleges' financial well-being.…

The great similarity between the Canadian and American structures of school finance conceals some fundamental, constitutional, and structural differences that shape the trends in Canadian school finance. First, provincial governments exercise a high degree of centralized control over education and its finance. Second, provincial governments have…

It is proposed that research universities are a vital component of higher education in the United States because they provide cultural and intellectual leadership, research potential, and the professional and technical human resources to translate research into social, industrial, and economic action. The future of these institutions in view of…

A study was conducted by the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) to determine VCCS first-time enrollment projections for recent high school graduates in the face of estimated decreases in the number of high school graduates from 1980 through 1985. The projections were determined by an analysis of Virginia Department of Education graduation…

If colleges are to avoid becoming mere self-perpetuating bureaucracies, administrators should dispel the notion that retrenchment in times of fiscal constraint must necessarily compromise institutional mission. Indeed, institutional mission is anchored in the rationale for a college's existence in the first place. Mission statements articulate…

Major policy options for American higher education in the next two decades, which is a period of potentially unused capacity, are considered. The focus is upon both public policies relating to higher education and policies of colleges and universities individually. It is suggested that the number of enrollees in higher education is partially…