Breaking the Trade-Off Between Cost and Quality Study

The era of “quality at any cost” has come to an end in the face of declining state support and flattening net tuition revenues. Our briefing outlines how academic leaders can continue to enhance quality by reallocating resources from lower impact activities to higher impact, mission-aligned priorities.

An unsustainable financial model

Revenue growth at most colleges and universities has slowed significantly since the recession, and revenues are actually declining at a growing share of institutions as a result of state budget cuts and pressures on net tuition revenue.

• 59%

  of Chief Business Officers are not confident in the sustainability of their institution’s financial model