Half of College Presidents Lack Long-term Confidence in Their Financial Model

The 2014 survey of college and university presidents, sponsored by Inside Higher Ed, has a few results that feed the narrative that while college has never been more expensive, many institutions are on unsustainable financial path (HT: the reference comes from chapter 4 of Jeff Selingo’s groundbreaking book College UnBound.)

Here are a few examples from the survey:

• Nearly two-thirds of presidents are confident about the sustainability of their institution’s financial mode over the next five years — but that proportion falls to half over 10 years. Asked to rate the financial viability of various sectors of colleges, presidents were most pessimistic about non-wealthy private colleges, for-profit institutions, and non-flagship public universities.
• Just 5 percent of all campus leaders strongly agree that the economic downturn that started in 2008 is effectively over at their institution.
• Fewer than one in five presidents agree that assertions that a “significant number” of colleges face “existential financial crisis” are “overblown.”