Relationships among long -term debt, current fund revenues and expenditures, and endowment value at public four-year colleges and universities

• Main Author: Stump, Michael Lee
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: W&M ScholarWorks 2001
• Subjects: Education Economics; Higher Education
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1539618686; https://scholarworks.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1896&context=etd

The purpose of this study is to determine what relationships exist among current fund revenues, current fund expenditures, long-term debt, and endowment value for public four-year colleges and universities, for fiscal years 1992 through 1997. An important objective of the study is to "let the data speak for itself." The research questions focused on trends among the four variables; whether long-term debt displaced some portion of current fund revenue and whether endowment value influenced this relationship; whether institutions incurred more debt when their revenues and endowment values have been increasing; and whether revenues failed to keep pace with institutions' needs and/or the Higher Education Price Index.;Exploring the relationships among revenues, expenditures, debt, and endowment value may yield important data about the influence of these variables upon one another and may help scholars and administrators develop comprehensive models to manage institutional debt and finances. The source of data for this study was the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics. The data were analyzed using cluster and ratio analyses to group schools as a function of the four variables.;Current fund revenues and expenditures were approximately equal and showed modest increases after adjusting for inflation. In general, long-term debt decreased after adjusting for inflation and endowment values increased significantly. It did not appear that long-term debt was displacing any portion of current fund revenues. In general, long term debt decreased in terms of 1992 dollars and as a percentage of endowment value. After adjusting for inflation, institutions have not incurred more debt, revenues showed modest increases, endowment values showed significant increases and grew much faster than expenditures. The data suggest that revenue sources have kept pace with institutions' needs and inflation.