Unit 3: The Department of Education: Postsecondary Institutions and Price of Attendance in the United States

Perhaps one of the most recognized opinion leader in higher education finance as well as other areas of education is the federal government. Through the Department of Education, programs such as the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) and the Integrated Postsecondary Education Systems (IPEDS) provides data and reports on the various areas of higher education free of charge to the public. The reports are generally presented in a straight forward and objective manner. The Department of Education's agenda is simply to provide the public and governmental agencies with information about the various areas of education. With this being said, a great deal of time and effort is placed on data collection and analysis thus making the Department of Education an opinion leader. Governmental agencies, for example, uses the data to determine if postsecondary and other areas of education are meeting regulations while the general public uses the information for research purposes and to obtain a snapshot of our educational system.

The Department of Education's Latest Report

The Department of Education's (2009) latest report Postsecondary Institutions and Price Attendance in the United States: Fall 2008, Degrees and Other Awards Conferred 2007-2008, and 12 Month Enrollment is directed towards federal and state governments as well as college and university administration including chief financial officers at Title IV institutions. This comprehensive report offers data obtained from Title IV institutions. The following are some highlights relevant to higher education finance and our class discussions.

During 2008-09, it was the private-for-profit institutions that reported the highest overall price of attendance for first-time undergraduate degree-seeking students living on campus. The average costs of attendance for private-for-profit institutions was $35,021. This is slightly higher than the not-for-profit private four-year institutions price of attendance for first-time undergraduate degree-seeking students living on campus which was $32,670. The lowest overall price of attendance was reported by public four-year institutions. The average cost of attendance for in-state, first-time, undergraduate students living on campus was $17,655 and for out-of-state students the cost was $26,219. This type of information provides chief financial officers with an overall national view of the price of attendance. Chief financial officers along with other college administrators, for example, could use this information to compare their costs with the national average.

On the non-financial side, the report provided some interesting data on enrollment in Title IV institutions. This is just a snippet of the non-financial information provided in the report. According to the report, "41 percent of four-year Title IV institutions offered a bachelor's degree or higher, 14 percent reported offering just a bachelor's degree, and 19 percent reported offering the associates as their highest degree" (p. 5). In addition, 4-year Title IV institutions "awarded 2 million degrees while 2-year institutions reported awarding almost 572, 000 degrees" (p. 5). State and federal appropriations are based on this type of data making the report of great interest to the federal government and of course to chief financial officers at colleges and universities.

Even though this posting only offers snippets of the Postsecondary Institutions and Price Attendance in the United States: Fall 2008, Degrees and Other Rewards 2007-2008, and 12-Month Enrollment report, it provides a comprehensive look at institutions that receive Title IV funds and would be a good read for those working in the field of higher education finance. The federal government can use the information presented in the report to determine if Title IV institutions are meeting guidelines.

Conclusion

It is felt that the Department of Education offers a valuable service to our society. The information given in this report along with others provide the public and the government with vital information about our entire educational system. The Department of Education employs professionals in the field of education many who have training and experience in higher education finance. With this being said, it stands to reason that the Department of Education can certainly be considered an opinion leader in higher education finance.

Reference

U.S. Department of Education (2009, October). Postsecondary institutions and price attendance in the United States: Fall 2008, degrees and other other awards conferred 2007-08 , and 12 month enrollment. Retrieved October 23, 2009 from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2009/2009165.pdf