A Study of Higher Education Instructional Expenditures: The Delaware Study of Instructional Costs and Productivity

Abstract

ForewordThe Research and Development (R&D) series of reports at NCES has been initiated:1. To share studies and research that are developmental in nature. The results of such studies may be revised as the work continues and additional data become available.2. To share the results of studies that are, to some extent, on the "cutting edge" of methodological developments. Emerging analytical approaches and new computer software development often permit new and sometimes controversial analyses to be done. By participating in "frontier research," we hope to contribute to the resolution of issues and improved analysis.3. To participate in discussions of emerging issues of interest to educational researchers, statisticians, and the federal statistical community in general. Such reports may document workshops and symposia sponsored by NCES that address methodological and analytical issues or may share and discuss issues regarding NCES practices, procedures, and standards.The common theme in all three goals is that these reports present results or discussions that do not reach definitive conclusions at this point in time, either because the data are tentative, the methodology is new and developing, or the topic is one on which there are divergent views. Therefore, the techniques and inferences made from the data are tentative and subject to revision. To facilitate the process of closure on the issues, we invite comment, criticism, and alternatives to what we have done. Such responses should be directed to:

Community College Revenue Disparities: What Accounts for an Urban College Deficit?

“…In states with 5 or fewer community colleges, the use of statistics robust to extreme values would not be possible due to a lack of cases. Treating 5 colleges as a cut point is consistent with comparative analyses conducted for a national study of college instructional costs sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics (Middaugh, Graham, & Shahid, 2003). The remaining sample includes 679 colleges with non-missing data in 35 states, or 67% of the IPEDS population of 1010 active public two-year colleges.…”

The role of institutional research in understanding and describing faculty work

“…Since its inception, more than five hundred institutions have participated in the Delaware Study. This discussion summarizes that work (Middaugh, Graham, and Shahid, 2003).…”

“…Teaching activity is certainly important, but faculty engage in an array of other activities that support the mission of a college or university. The foregoing NCES analysis (Middaugh, Graham, and Shahid, 2003) discussion of faculty work, it should be within the context of the academic discipline. The remainder of this chapter focuses on how institutional research in general, and the Delaware Study of Instructional Costs and Productivity in particular, can inform that discussion.…”

A beginner's guide to integrating human resources faculty data and cost data

“…Middaugh examination of expenses (in this case, direct instructional expenses and instructional cost function and also the number of faculty full-time equivalents) is integrated with varied types of quantifiable end products or output measures, such as student credit hour generation, class sections taught, full-time equivalent, and head count of total students taught (Middaugh, 2000(Middaugh, , 2001(Middaugh, , 2005Middaugh, Graham, and Shahid, 2003;Middaugh and Isaacs, 2005; also see Chapter Five, this volume). Essentially the two key ratios of note that the Delaware Study methodology puts forward are, by department, (1) direct instructional expenses per student credit hour (SCH) and (2) (2000) provided a helpful list of indicators or end products to inform decision makers, derived in part from the integration of cost data and human resource faculty data.…”