What does the report tell us about college revenues, spending, and results?
Trends in College Spending provides a good deal of new information about where higher education’s money comes from, where it goes, and what it buys. While the numbers tell slightly different stories for different types of institutions, they come together around some basic conclusions: • More students are attending the institutions that have the least to invest in their success. The richest institutions are getting richer, and the rest are getting squeezed. • Revenue drives institutional activity. Outside of revenue from tuition increases, the new money in higher education is restricted for special functions like research and public service, rather than for activities like instruction. • At most institutions, students are paying more of the total cost of their education, and less of that money is going into the classroom. (The exception is private research institutions, where additional money for education is coming from other sources.) • Student tuition increases are only partially mak
