While the cost of providing higher education continues to increase, traditional sources of revenue—such as state funding, tuition, and endowments—are decreasing, forcing leaders in higher ed to find new ways to remain viable. By employing new strategies, business models and technologies, and finding smarter ways to use available data, these leaders are fostering a climate of creativity and innovation, reshaping the way colleges and universities can sustain themselves.
Want to learn more about our higher education insights? Download our 2018 TIAA Institute Higher Education Thought Leadership Annotated Bibliography.
Also produced by the TIAA Institute, Insights features reports addressing prominent issues in financial security, higher education, and philanthropy. While typically written for a primarily non-technical audience, Insights are prepared using the same level of academic rigor found in our other research publications, and can serve as valuable sources of information for a diverse group of readers.
U.S. colleges and universities hold more than $500 billion in endowment assets, but many people have a poor grasp of these assets’ purpose and value.
In an era of declining public funding, private philanthropy has played an increasingly vital role for both public and private institutions.
The financial sustainability of private residential higher education is under siege, as revenue growth slows and costs continue to rise.
Original research produced by the TIAA Institute—both independently and in collaboration with noted scholars—examines topics of interest to the academic, nonprofit and public sectors. The reports combine statistical findings with thoughtful, data-driven observations and conclusions to provide in-depth analyses that are informative and appropriate for both technical and more academic audiences.
Performance funding applies financial incentives to higher education, tying a portion of public institutions’ state appropriations to retention rate, degree completion and other student outcomes.
Despite the increasing role of 401(k) plans as retirement vehicles, little is known about how mutual fund families acting as 401(k) plan service providers influence the investment choices offered in their plan.
While a number of published studies have measured how the number and mix of fund options influence investment patterns in retirement accounts few, if any, have examined how plan participants react to a large reduction in investment choices.