Dollars and Sense
Survey delves into the mindset of higher education business officers
- 70% of business officers are confident their institution will be financially stable for the next five years
- 66% of business officers agree that their institution is in better financial shape now than it was in 2019. CBOs who think their institution is in better financial shape now than it was in 2019 report that is because they’ve received significant funding from the American Rescue Plan. Those who indicate their institution is in worse financial shape now than in 2019 report that’s because enrollment is lower and that tuition revenue has declined.
- 42% of business officers believe their institution will be in better financial shape a year from now. 37% disagree. Most who believe their institution is in better financial shape now than it will be in a year are most likely to cite the future impact of inflationary pressures and the falloff of federal recovery funds. Those who expect their institution’s financial situation to improve in a year say they expect net tuition revenue to increase.
- 64% of business officers estimate that their institution’s overall revenue will have decreased in the past two years; 36% estimate no decrease.
- More than two-thirds of business officers agree (17 percent strongly) that the pandemic has created an opportunity for their institution to make institutional changes they have been wanting to make anyway.
- About one-fifth of business officers (21 percent) report that senior administrators at their college have had serious conversations about consolidating some of its programs or operations with another college or university (76 percent have not).
Source: Inside Higher Ed | 2022 Survey of College and University Business Officers (https://www.insidehighered.com/special-reports)
