Managing Public Higher Education Restructuring: Understanding College and University Cost Structures
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2010
Identifier/URL
40969095 (Pure)
Abstract
This paper focuses on understanding college and university costs as a prerequisitefor successfully managing ongoing issues associated with restructuring publiclyprovided higher education. Restructuring is well underway as a result ofglobalization, the European led Bologna Declaration, and U.S. nationallycompetitive forces. It potentially affects the mix and level of products that collegesand universities produce. To capture the possible cost implications of thosechanges, multi-product cost functions are empirically estimated for four levels ofU.S. public colleges and universities: doctoral, master, bachelor, and associatedegree granting institutions. Scale and scope estimates are derived for researchand three teaching outputs, including undergraduate, graduate, and professionaleducation. Findings regarding product specific economies of scale suggest thatgovernment reforms to place enrollment growth at lower level associate collegesmay increase the costs of providing public higher education. In contrast, reformsthat create more specialized institutional missions could generate cost savings.While the empirical estimates pertain to U.S. colleges and universities, the lessonsof experience in one country can be valuable to others.
Repository Citation
Sav, G. T.
(2010). Managing Public Higher Education Restructuring: Understanding College and University Cost Structures. Management, 15 (2), 1-23.
https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/econ/348
