Money pours into colleges, in the form of tuition, government aid, and donations, and money pours out, in the form of instructional costs, salaries, and maintenance of campuses. This section gives a glimpse of the financial rewards and stressors in higher education.
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NewsThe Humanities’ Place in Research Spending
Less than 1 percent of the R&D money spent by universities goes to the humanities. The institutions that spend the most want their projects to have an impact. -
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Colleges That Spent the Most on Humanities Research
Only two public colleges on the list devoted more than 5 percent of their total research-and-development spending to the humanities, but 18 private nonprofit colleges did. -
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Most-Expensive 4-Year Private Nonprofit Colleges
The 100 colleges that had the greatest overall cost for tuition, fees, and room and board, were scattered among 23 states. -
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Most-Expensive 4-Year Public Colleges, In-State Costs
All nine of the University of California campuses open to undergraduates were among the most expensive in the country for in-state students. -
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Top Sources of Wealth for Donors of $1 Million or More to Colleges
Among donors to higher education who gave $1 million or more in the 2017 calendar year, the largest share could attribute their financial status to real estate. -
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Largest Private Gifts to Higher Education
Thirty-two private gifts valued at $50 million or more were announced by colleges during the 2017-18 academic year. -
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Research-and-Development Spending, by Source of Funds
Colleges and universities devoted nearly half as much support to research and development as did the federal government. -
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Universities With the Highest Spending on Research and Development
Of the 12 institutions that spent more than $1 billion on research and development in the 2016 fiscal year, four were in California. -
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Universities With the Highest Research-and-Development Spending Financed by the National Science Foundation
The top 40 institutions spent more than half of what all institutions spent on research and development with support from the National Science Foundation. -
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Average Tuition-Discount Rates at Private Nonprofit Colleges, 2006-7 to 2017-18
Over 11 years, the share of revenue from tuition and fees that went back to students in tuition discounts grew by nearly 10 percentage points. -
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Most-Expensive 4-Year Public Colleges, Out-of-State Costs
California and Virginia has the highest numbers of institutions among the top 50 for out-of-state costs. -
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Average Published Tuition and Fees, by Type of Institution, 2017-18
The average published tuition and fees for full-time undergraduates increased beyond the rate of inflation for public and four-year private nonprofit institutions. -
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Library Spending, by Sector
Outside of salaries, the largest budget item for libraries was continuing commitments to subscriptions for journals and periodicals. -
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Per-Student Spending on Instruction and Other Areas
Four-year private nonprofit institutions spent nearly four times as much per full-time-equivalent student in the 2016 fiscal year as four-year for-profit institutions did. -
Colleges’ Revenue and Expenditures
For-profit institutions are by far the most tuition-dependent sector, relying on that money for about 90 percent of overall revenue. -
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Federally Funded Research-and-Development Spending, by Agency and Field
More than half of the federal support for higher-education R&D spending came from the Department of Health and Human Services. -
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Change in Colleges’ Average Published and Net Costs Since 1997
Costs at four-year public institutions have risen faster than at their private counterparts, but net tuition and fees have dropped at two-year public colleges. -
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Flagship Universities With the Lowest Tuition Increases Since 2007
Among flagship institutions, Ohio State University was the most successful in limiting increases in tuition and fees for in-state students. -
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Private Colleges With Low Financial-Responsibility Scores
Several of the colleges with low scores on the test have already closed. -
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College Endowments Over $500-Million
The value of the endowments of the 15 wealthiest institutions in Massachusetts exceeded $70 billion, about as much as the total national wealth of Lithuania. -
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Average Annual Endowment Returns
The average annual return on college and university endowments over the 10-year period ending with the 2017 fiscal year was 4.6 percent. -
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Spending Rates for College Endowments
The 2017 annual rate ranged from 4.0 percent for endowments valued at less than $25 million, to 4.8 percent for those valued at over $1 billion. -
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Asset Allocations for College Endowments
The proportion of an endowment that was invested in alternative strategies depended on its size. -
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Federal Support for Research and Development, by Agency
More than half of the federal money spent by colleges on research and development in the 2016 fiscal year came from the Department of Health and Human Services. -
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Change in Support for University Research-and-Development Spending Since 2011
In the 2016 fiscal year, federal support for research and development at higher-education institutions rose for the first time since 2011. -
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Average Annual Net Investment Rates of Return for Endowments of American Colleges, FY 2008 to FY 2017
The rate of return for the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2017, was the highest figure since 2014. -
Estimated Voluntary Support of Higher Education
Giving by alumni increased more in 2017 than giving by any other group. -
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Colleges That Raised the Most in Private Donations
Eleven private nonprofit institutions raised more money in the 2017 fiscal year than did the public institution that raised the most.
