Responses

As a budget manager at a college or university, one must be flexible with an ability to forecast, and reforecast a budget during times of uncertainty. In the beginning of 2020, for example, no budget manager could have seen the coming fallout due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the colleges and universities that were able to adapt quickly and on the fly are the ones that place themselves in the best position possible to overcome this pandemic. This has created a need to adjust forecasted revenues and expenses to ensure the institution stays financially viable during, and after the pandemic.

One of the large-scale impacts of the pandemic has been the effect on the economy. With unemployment numbers near all-time highs, families around the country have found themselves in a tough situation. Due to this, one main revenue source for many colleges and universities that will be affected is tuition and fees generated from enrolled students. At private non-profit institutions, tuition and fees make up 31% of their total revenues (National Center for Education Statistics, 2020). At public universities, 20% of their total revenues are made up of tuition and fees (National Center for Education Statistics, 2020).With the rising cost of tuition, up 144% since 2000 (Boyington & Kerr, 2020), many families and prospective students have needed to find lower cost alternatives over the years. Add in the effect of the pandemic on the economy, and colleges and universities around the nation may find themselves in a tough situation attempting to find prospective students who can afford tuition.

Another issue the pandemic has created has been the movement towards hybrid courses, even if students are still on campus. This has created a need for professors to teach half of their class online, and another half in person. The move to hybrid courses has inevitably created a need for institutions to increase expenditures on their available technologies. The move to even partially online learning can be a difficult transition, especially for smaller private institutions who are best at in person learning.

References

Boyington, B., Kerr, E., (2020). 20 Years of Tuition Growth at National Universities. https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2017-09-20/see-20-years-of-tuition-growth-at-national-universities#:~:text=But%20data%20from%20the%20past,out%2Dof%2Dstate%20students.&text=The%20average%20tuition%20and%20fees,National%20Universities%20have%20jumped%20144%25.