When I was in the corporate world, it was common for one of the top sales people to make the most of anyone in the organization.  Sometimes, the heavy hitters, festooned with gray hair an a rolodex full of “friends” made more than the CEO.  The reason is simple; without sales, the organization fails.  Without good margins on those sales, […]

Some of the institutions I am visiting confront what I will call a challenging demand scenario. That is, what used to be a lock for, say, 400 new students is now in the low 300s.  The reasons for this drop-off are many and vary with diverse institutional profiles.  In this installment, I want to share […]

Stocks can have a lot of overhead So you are entrusted with investing an endowment and are looking at the various options thinking there has to be a better way.  After all, the overhead in stock investing is quite significant.  Think about how much boards are willing to bestow on their CEO in the form […]

“Invest in a broad array of stocks and bonds and hold them for the long term.”  Those who held General Motors stock and/or bonds in 2006 might disagree.  Same goes for WorldComm, Enron, Kodak, AT&T, Adelphia Cable, RIM/Blackberry, JCPenney and a host of other disasters.  Corporate bonds are not exempt either, with their tendency for weaker returns […]

If I used the title “retirement account” my following might go up about ten-fold.  All of us are a little nervous as markets reach historic highs and the future seems anything but rosy.  I write this as the government is shutting down its non-essential operations.  Seems similar to when a snowstorm hits and only “essential” […]

For a variety of reasons, the advancement / development / fundraising operations of an institution tend to operate in ways that drive CFOs nuts.  Since no rebuttals are accommodated on this blogsite, you may be expecting me to unload on those back-slapping marketing types who travel extensively, spend like Caesar and who think all raised […]

One of the areas where a good deal of conversation has occurred of late is on the topic of program evaluation.  Specifically, leaders are wanting to understand how to review a program financially to determine whether it should be shuttered, maintained or invested in.  While there are no generally accepted mechanisms used to numerically and […]

Attention now turns from revenues to costs.  And, I turn from preachin’ to meddln’ Many of the institutions I interface with have been confronting an unreliable revenue stream.  That’s a fancy way of saying that enrollment has been heading southward while tuition discounts spike northward. Taken together, these companions make it necessary to reduce expenses […]

To say that the sticker price for higher ed is eye-popping is an understatement.  NACUBO reports that the average cost of tuition, room, board, fees and books is around $38,000 for a private institution.  To earn a net pay of that amount requires a gross salary of about $50,000.  It is anything but cheap. Of […]

This is based on some interaction I have had with a few of you after my latest posting about cutting prices.  Consider these six questions and answers: What are the potential issues for future years? For starters, your price increases will be based on a lower tuition, meaning that the same percentage increase will yield […]