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Prioritize funding for teaching and learning, not management
ACTA has been saddened to report that in the four states we have graded so far in our report cards (Georgia , Illinois, Missouri, and Minnesota), far too many institutions got the proverbial "big fat F" for administrative costs that outstripped instructional spending. A new report from the Goldwater Institute, "Administrative Bloat at American Universities: The Real Reason for High Costs in Higher Education," now provides some truly alarming statistics for 198 of America's leading universities on runaway administrative costs. In a word: "Inflation-adjusted spending on administration per student increased by 61 percent during the same period, while instructional spending per student rose 39 percent." Even allowing for the objection that some support staff categories are integral parts of instruction, the administrative bloat is unconscionable.
Author Jay P. Greene and his colleagues at the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas have given trustees an important tool and powerful motivation in these hard economic times to ensure that they put student learning first at their institutions. Trustees will also find helpful the suggestions in ACTA's new guide on cost cutting as the new college year begins.
Posted by Michael Poliakoff on August 19, 2010 at August 19, 2010 12:09 PM
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