The Transformation of Private Liberal Arts Colleges (original) (raw)
Related papers
Are We Losing Our Liberal Arts Colleges?
College Board Review, 1990
Educational and economic criteria were developed to define a liberal arts college, and this definition was applied to the list of Liberal Arts I and Liberal Arts II colleges in the Carnegie Foundation classification. Educationally, liberal arts colleges were defined by the following criteria: they award the bachelor of arts degree; are residential; enroll full-time students in the age range of 18 to 24; and limit the number of majors to roughly 20 in the arts, humanities, languages, social sciences, and physical sciences. They rarely enroll more than 2,500 students, and they provide a pre-professional education. Economically, liberal arts colleges have comparable revenue and cost structures, with economic struggles being a function of their offering a curriculum that does not cater to students' concer"s with the job market. Using these criteria, the list of 540 institutions classified as liberal arts was narrowed tc 212. The paper concludes that the liberal arts college is disappearing, and another type of institutionthe professional college-is taking its place. A list of the 212 liberal arts colleges meeting the criteria is provided. (JDD)
Do liberal arts colleges maximize profit?
Southern Economic Journal
Revenue, cost, tuition, and scholarship data at private liberal arts colleges from 2003-2013 are used to estimate how each college's net revenue per student varies with student enrollment. Our empirical specification assumes that colleges simultaneously pick their optimal net tuition and cost of instruction. The estimates allow us to identify the enrollment level that maximizes the return on the college's provision of educational services. Thirty-seven percent of the colleges have enrollments within one standard deviation of their profit maximizing enrollment. Another 11% are more than one standard deviation above the profit maximizing level; they increase access to students but not revenue. Compared to the profit maximizing colleges, the institutions with enrollments beyond their profit maximum have stronger endowments and enroll more low-income students. Although no schools were below their shutdown enrollment, 13% were within one standard deviation of their minimum enrollment and may be vulnerable to tuition revenue shock.
Distinctively American: The Residential Liberal Arts Colleges
Social Science Journal, 2002
compile 15 articles primarily written by men and women engaged in liberal arts colleges as administrators, trustees, professors, former students, or chaplains. Inspite of their direct connections with and, often, professed allegiances to small, liberal arts colleges (SLACs), the contributors to this volume present a very clear, detailed, and honest portrait of many aspects of the past, present, and anticipated future of these schools. The articles, originally written by the various authors for different occasions, avoid the romanticized, sentimental presentations that they might have been. Instead, they both deconstruct and reconstruct the ideology about and reality of the SLACs.
1985
York ABSTR,FT An overview bf on ongoing study of state policies and private postsecondary eduction is presented. It is suggested tha0 higher education should be viewed in the context of a state's practices in ether human service pdlicy areas (e.g., social and health services). Three types obstate policy-postures are emphasized: laissez-faire, market competitive, and direct 'regulatory. Four areas of state policy that are centkally important to private colleges are also covered: access/chOce,idieect institutional aid,, planning and program review, and information policies. Policy areas and postures are illustrated by the cases of California and Indiana, which were studied in detail. The case of New York State is used to illustrate the adaptation to changing demands,for degree programs and the competition between public and 'private 'colleges for public funds. Also considered are statistical evidence of relationships between state aid programs and indicators of access, choiceu and private sector health. The objective is to compare changes-in enrollment patterns and indicators of private sec,tor fiscal health across time periods and across states cepresenting'different levels of policy commitment to theoprivate lector and its students.' (SW)
The financial resilience of american colleges and universities
New Directions for Higher Education, 1982
Part 5. Conclusion Colleges and unii rrsitzes have siinm ed a decade ofJirrancta1 euigenn because ofthe resziience the) derieloped And lhe numbei one problem the1 uill confront in the 1980s i s still inpation, not enrollment decbnv But znflatzon z n thP neyt tvn) P m u d not bt. ns had ar zi u a~ zn the last The Financial Resilience of American Colleges and Universities Carol Frances Both the administrators and the faculty of American higher education institutions are experts on financial exigency. They have had virtually a decade of experience in coping with the ravages of inflation arid the consequmt declining real resources per student. Indeed, they have been responding to financial difficulties for a longer period of time than have people in most other American industries. The great tribute to educators is that? at the end of almost ten years of financial exigency, the quality of the academic. programs has, by and large, not yet eroded. Survey data indicate that in the perceptions of the administrators, the deans, and most importantly, in the eves of the students, the quality of the academic programs has generally b e m maintained or even strengthened. if the quantity of the educational output has increased, and if the quality of the academic programs has been maintained, while real resources expended on educational inputs have declined, then the productivity of the educational system must have increased-perhaps substantially. This productivity gain is an important fact to emphasize. On the whole, up to this point, the American higher education enterprise has been
The Impact of the Financial Crisis on American Public Universities
2012
The impact of the financial crisis on higher education has been considerable, and the crisis may lead to reduced funding for education from all sources – government, private sector and households. There are a number of effects on the financial situation of the American public universities. Most of them come about as a direct result of the global economic situation. While both developed and developing countries are affected, it is not always in the same way. A key modifying factor is the shape and structure of the higher education system within each country, which can produce different outcomes in each particular country. The American higher education system has been much affected by the financial downturn. Unemployment has continued to climb, and job availability for young people is low. At the same time, the cost of tuition at private colleges and state four-year universities has continued to grow. As a result, with a greater need for higher education, but fewer financial resources...
The Troubled Future of Colleges and Universities
PS: Political Science & Politics, 2013
The American system of higher education appears poised for disruptive change of potentially historic proportions due to massive new political, economic, and educational forces that threaten to undermine its business model, governmental support, and operating mission. These forces include dramatic new types of economic competition, difficulties in growing revenue streams as we had in the past, relative declines in philanthropic and government support, actual and likely future political attacks on universities, and some outdated methods of teaching and learning that have been unchanged for hundreds of years.