NACUBO's Liz Clark speaks with Sophia Harding of Staffordshire University and Lucy Heming of Imperial College, both university administrators from universities in England, to compare trends in public opinion about higher education and discuss how institutions are preparing to deliver on their educational missions into the foreseeable future.

State institutions are increasingly reliant on tuition dollars to fund operations in the face of declines in state appropriations. Sophia Laderman joins NACUBO's Megan Schneider and brings the latest insights from the State Higher Education Finance report to help us paint a clearer picture of today's funding landscape.

Links & Notes

• 2018 SHEF Report — State Higher Education Executive Officers Association

Institutions dedicate a significant portion of their tuition and fee revenue to help families offset the cost of college. Just how much? It's significant, says NACUBO Senior Director of Research and Policy Analysis, Ken Redd. This grant aid — aid that does not require repayment — is reaching new heights. Today on the show, Ken joins NACUBO's Liz Clark to share the latest findings from the study, focusing on private institutions' use of tuition discounting, and to discuss the challenges that come from increasing aid and the corresponding impact on net tuition revenue.

Thank you to EAB for their generous support of this research.

Links & Notes

• NACUBO Tuition Discounting Study

This week on the show, Juan Martinez, Vice President, CFO, and Treasurer of the Knight Foundation, joins NACUBO senior director of federal affairs, Liz Clark, to talk about diversity in the asset management industry. Research supported by the Knight Foundation looks at trends in women and minority-owned asset management firms— and the results challenge long-held assumptions in the field and open the door to a more aggressive acceptance of diverse portfolio ownership.

Links & Notes

• Learn more about Juan Martinez at KnightFoundation.org
• 2018 TIAA-NACUBO Study of Endowments
• Diversifying Investments: A Study of Ownership Diversity and Performance in the Asset Management Industry

Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) has released their new International Graduate Admissions Survey study. On today's show, Liz Clark sits down with Lauren Inouye and Hironao Okahana from CGS to talk about the study and the impacts of the political and economic impacts on international student enrollment in the United States.

The biggest takeaway this year? The second general cycle of decline in enrollment in international graduate enrollment. But some of the reasons may surprise you. Join us today to hear about the benchmarking around the data can help you make more educated decisions in your own enrollment efforts.

Lauren Inouye serves as Vice President for Public Policy and Government Affairs and Hironao Okahana Associate VP for Research and Policy Analysis at the Council of Graduate Affairs.

Links & Notes

• Council of Graduate Schools International Graduate Admissions

Colleen Campbell, Director, Postsecondary Education for Center for American Progress (CAP) joins NACUBO's Bryan Dickson to talk about the Department of Education's Federal Student Aid proposed payment vehicle and the myStudentAid app. The initiative is designed to improve function and compliance for colleges and universities and provide convenience for students and families, but CAP has some consumer advocacy concerns.

The new program will allow students to receive their federal student aid dollars directly from the federal government — and the details are important to understand.

Links & Notes

• myStudentAid at NASFAA

For over 40 years, NACUBO has conducted a study on institutional endowments designed to answer key questions in how these financial tools are used. Over the years, this has become the largest study of its kind, offering a comprehensive set of data for policy makers, parents, students, and the broader community in how their institutions are using endowed funds.

This week, NACUBO's Director of Research and Policy Analysis, Ken Redd, and Senior Director for Federal Affairs, Liz Clark, report findings in the 2018 report. This week on NACUBO In Brief, Ken and Liz break down the current state of endowments with key areas of focus for finance leaders in the coming year.

Links & Notes

• NACUBO-TIAA Study of Endowments

The recent government shutdown had a significant impact on our nation's research institutions. Jennifer Poulakidas of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities joins Megan Schneider to discuss the broader implications of the shutdown on research and higher education.

Peter Smith has been an institution in global higher education issues for the better part of 50 years. In his latest book, Free Range Learning in the Digital Age: The Emerging Revolution in College, Career, and Education, Dr. Smith uses evidence across the education ecosystem to document the unimaginable transformation occurring that challenges some of the common mythology in our field. For Smith, this book is about the end of knowledge discrimination, that education is often judged not on what you learn, but where you learned it. The end of this knowledge penalty comes with tectonic shifts in technology and access, no matter where that access is offered.

Links & Notes

• About Peter Smith — Open Education Consortium
• Free Range Learning in the Digital Age: The Emerging Revolution in College, Career, and Education by Peter Smith — Amazon.com

NACUBO assistant director of research and policy analysis Lindsay Wayt joins us today to share the latest results from the NACUBO 2017 Tuition Discounting Study, measuring the trends and strategies employed around tuition discounting across our member institutions. This week on NACUBO In Brief, Lindsay offers valuable background on the methodology underlying the report, along with some surprising trends that might impact your own institutions and your decisions around tuition discounting.