The cost to and impact on institutions of higher education in Texas when implementing and administering federally mandated social regulations

Abstract

The primary purpose of this research was to determine the cost and impact to institutions of higher education in Texas when implementing and administering federally mandated social regulations. Preceding the development of the primary data, the review of the literature examined and traced the changing role and scope of higher education in the United States from their beginning to the present, examined the forces currently causing concern for the survival of institutions of higher education, examined studies previously conducted to determine the cost and impact to institutions of higher education, and examined the variety and number of federal social laws and regulations. From the review of the literature, a questionnaire requiring both discrete and attitudinal data was developed, pilot tested, and forwarded to the presidents of all institutions of higher education in Texas. The responses from 69.2% of the 156 institutions surveyed were statistically tested by computer-assisted programs of the SCSS Conversational Statistical Package designed for the DEC SYSTEM-20 computer. The findings revealed the total dollar costs, as reported by 73 institutions, amounted to $16,000,794 for the 1977-78 academic year. When calculated as a percentage of the budget reported by these institutions for the 1978-79 year, the costs indicated that 1.28% of the total budget was necessary for covering the costs of implementing and administering federally mandated social regulations (excluding social security). Considerable difference existed in the percent of budget costs among different types of institutions, particularly by academic level type. Projections of total dollar costs for all institutions of higher education in Texas exceeded $31 million for the 1977-78 academic year. Public institution cost was $16.7 million; whereas the cost to private institutions was $14.3 million. The average dollar cost to public institutions was $175,036 for the year as opposed to an average cost to private institutions of $328,569. Institutions report that these costs are expected to increase in the future. Thirty-eight percent of the revenue to cover the added cost of implementing and administering federally mandated social regulations for public institutions has come from the state government, while for private institutions, approximately twenty-two percent has come from the state government...