January 8, 2013, 4:49 pm
By Eric Kelderman
A new analysis of state spending on higher education finds that states with a diverse economy, low unemployment, and a history of support for higher education are likely to maintain public spending on colleges. Conversely, states that do not have those characteristics have a hard time overcoming fiscal challenges to create a robust system of higher education.
The study, described in a report titled “College Funding in Context: Understanding the Difference in Higher Education Appropriations Across the States,” was conducted by researchers at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities’ department of organizational leadership, policy, and development. It found that states that are leaders in higher-education spending tend to stay at the top of that category, creating a kind of “virtuous cycle.” The study was published by Demos, a nonpartisan organization that studies and advocates for…
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December 19, 2012, 1:11 pm
By Eric Kelderman
Moody’s Investors Service just dumped a load of coal into the Christmas stockings of Illinois’s public universities. The bond-rating agency announced on Tuesday that it was considering downgrading the credit rating of the eight institutions because of the state’s poor fiscal situation and the universities’ reliance on state funds.
Moody’s rates about $2.6-billion in debt issued by the university system. A downgrade could increase the cost of future borrowing, not to mention the stigma that a downgrade represents to possible donors and business partners.
The universities are largely victims of their state’s budget impasse and political intransigence. Last week Moody’s announced that Illinois’s economic outlook had shifted from “stable” to “negative,” and in January the ratings agency made the state the lowest rated in the nation.
The problems there include lawmakers’ inability …
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December 13, 2012, 8:34 pm
By Lee Gardner
It isn’t news that the recession hit higher education hard, but a new report from the Delta Cost Project presents data about key shifts from 2007 to 2010 that the report says have “ushered in a new era in higher-education finance.”
The report is one of a series of annual updates released by the Delta Cost Project, an arm of the American Institutes for Research, a nonpartisan research and advocacy organization. Titled “College Spending in a Turbulent Decade,” the latest report affirms many familiar findings—reduced government support, cutbacks at colleges, and more of the cost of an education being borne by students in the form of tuition.
The report also includes a number of telling findings based on data from the 2010 fiscal year, the most recent available. Highlights include:
- While enrollment was up across all sectors, public and private, the nation’s community…
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