Category: Activity-Based Cost Model

From Whoa to Go in 7 weeks – an Analytic Model Implementation Case Study

Last year NACUBO released the results of their survey to understand the current status of analytics, where Business Officers would like to use analytics and barriers that institutional leaders face within the Education sector. As the results show below, Operational Analysis and Cost of Instruction top the list of areas that are in need of […]

READ MORE

Why is Math Cheaper than English?

This was a question posed by Steven Hemelt (UNC – Chapel Hill), Kevin Stange, Fernando Furquim, Andrew Simon (University of Michigan) and John Sawyer (University of Delaware) in their paper “Why is Math Cheaper than English? Understanding Cost Differences in Higher Education” https://www.nber.org/papers/w25314 Their “analysis reveals appreciable variation in the cost of delivering a unit […]

READ MORE

Center of Excellence in Higher Education Cost Management  

Be involved….   Consortium for Advanced Management  – International (CAM-I) Creating  an International Center of Excellence in Higher Education Cost Management   Back in 1972 computing power was either very limited or, in most organizations, non-existent. Data was stored physically – on paper, or in alphanumeric card systems in filing cabinets and storage trays. Thousands, billions, of […]

READ MORE

Cost of Instruction at the University of Maryland

The following is an extract from this article in NACUBO Business Officer Magazine September 2019 by Margo Vanover Porter and discusses the Pilbara model at the University of Maryland. The model was implemented in 2017 with our US consulting partner, Grant Thornton and is updated on an annual basis.   After attending a NACUBO conference […]

READ MORE

Pilbara in Saskatoon

Saskatoon, in the heart of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan sits further north than Hobart is south, by about 10° in latitude, (for the navigators amongst you). As the crow flies, it is 14,612 kilometers from Adelaide by the shortest route across the Pacific. Winter temperatures in Saskatoon get serious, with the thermometer hovering around of -19° […]

READ MORE

Pilbara Higher Ed Conference 2019

The Pilbara Higher Ed conference was held September 3-4 in Brisbane at the Rydges Hotel in Southbank. It was a great crowd and generated a lot of interesting discussions over the two day event. The focus of the conference was Data Driven Decision Making and in particular how cost and predictive models can be used […]

READ MORE

New Academic Programs – Five Year Financial Forecasts in Minutes

A significant amount of time and effort goes into the development of a new program for a college. Unfortunately, the financial aspects of the new program tend not to get as much attention. In today’s environment it is becoming more and more important to ensure any new programs not only break-even but contribute positively to […]

READ MORE

Why is Traditional Accounting Failing Higher Education?

With Gary Cokins Traditional or Financial Accounting is essential for statutory and regulatory reporting for government agencies and the investor community. It is guided by Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). It is best referred to as “external” financial accounting. But here is the problem: Colleges know in detail how much they spend; however, the vast […]

READ MORE

The Alternative to Closing/Merging – Networking!

In my last post I identified that 14% of presidents think their college will close or merge in the next five years. With over 4,000 degree-granting institutions in the US, this could potentially mean that more than 400 colleges are at risk of closure or merging. In this post, Andrew Faulkner and I dig into […]

READ MORE

Hundreds of colleges fear closing or merging

In the latest Inside Higher Ed 2019 Survey of College and University Presidents it was no surprise to see that the majority of presidents are confident that their institutions will be financially stable over the next five years. What I was quite surprised to read was that 14% of college presidents say they could see […]

READ MORE