Higher Education Finance

Catalog description

This course provides an overview of the economics and finance of higher education in the United States, with an emphasis on the analysis of financial policies and current issues at the national, state, and institutional levels. The purpose of this course is to apply concepts, models, and methods of economic theory in the analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of issues, problems, programs, policies, and behaviors related to the finance of higher education. This course has its foundation in the fundamental economic theories and concepts that are centrally and widely applicable in the study of higher education finance. Several sets of economic theories are particularly useful for the study of financial phenomena in higher education. In this course, we will study the following sets of economic theories and apply them to the study of higher education finance: 1. The economic theories of human capital and investment in higher education; 2. The economic theories of the public sector and the role of federal and state government policies in higher education finance; and 3. The microeconomic theories of the marketplace and the firm, including theories of revenue, cost, productivity, prices, subsidies, and elasticity. 4. We will apply these economic theories and concepts in the analysis of a range of topics related to financial policies in higher education.