Business Models of U.S. Institutions of Higher Education

Earlier this year I looked at whether any private institutions of higher education in the United States were using a low-cost business strategy to undercut college prices and disrupt markets (post here, pdf here). The present research is a natural progression from this earlier one.

Here I’m interested in two questions. What are the revenue and expense models in use by colleges and universities? And are there combinations of revenue and expense models that indicate some institutions are following uniquely different business strategies compared to their competitors?

The study includes a diverse group of 1,144 private not-for-profit institutions.

Findings suggest that colleges and universities do differentiate themselves markedly by the business models they employ. This further suggests that institutions also differ in their ability to adapt to such disruptive changes as low-cost competition. No real surprises here, but the details provide tantalizing stories.

The report is available here (pdf).

1. Bectkemi — August 3, 2008 @ 7:59 am

   Brilliant!