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salary of full-time instructors increased, instructional costs also increased. While full-time
instructor salary was positively correlated with instructional costs per FTES, part-time
hourly pay was negatively correlated, albeit at a very small level.
Implications
This study has various policy implications for administrators in the CCC. First,
colleges can take advantage of efficiency in instructional costs by increasing
enrollment to the maximum level of growth set by the state. However, while
expanding enrollment can lead to a cost savings in terms of dollars per FTES, if the
enrollment level exceeds the growth funding limit mandated by the State for the fiscal
year, these additional students will not contribute to the revenues of the college; hence,
the additional enrollment may not be funded. However, all else equal, as the student
population at a college grows, an economy of scale effect is achieved: costs per unit,
or in this case FTES, decreases. Second, increasing class size will also decrease
instructional costs per FTES; this policy is particularly important when districts are
required to cut course offerings. The districts can place the overflow of students who
would otherwise not be able to enroll into existing classes. The results of this study
indicate that as colleges grow, classrooms tend to become larger. Furthermore,
colleges that rely on a larger number of part-time instructors have lower instructional
costs per FTES. While colleges can take advantage of the low cost of additional part-time
instruction, campus leaders must insure that any State mandated requirement of a
specific ratio of part-time to full-time instruction is satisfied.
Object Description
| Title | Finance in the California community college: Comparative analysis and benchmarking of instructional expenditures |
| Author | Karamian, Martin |
| Author email | martinsfsu@netzero.com; karamim@piercecollege.edu |
| Degree | Doctor of Education |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Education (Leadership) |
| School | Rossier School of Education |
| Date defended/completed | 2011-03-17 |
| Date submitted | 2011 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2011-04-26 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Picus, Lawrence O. |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Melguizo, Tatiana Vega, William |
| Abstract | The goals of this empirical study of community colleges are to 1) create a benchmark for per student instructional expenditures; and 2) account for variations in instructional expenditures among a peer group of community colleges in Southern California. The peer group sample included 22 single campus community college districts in the Los Angeles area. Using data for three fiscal years a refined mean benchmark value for instructional expenditures of $2,676.71 per full-time equivalent student (FTES) was estimated with a standard deviation of $326.54. Using Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient, 11 variables were correlated with instructional costs per FTES. The largest and only statistically significant determinant included the number of part-time instructors (-0.424). While other variables were correlated, none were statistically significant at the 95% confidence interval. The results from the sample suggest that larger colleges have lower instructional costs per FTES despite higher faculty pay. Expanding credit student enrollment within the funding growth limits set by the State, along with additional part-time instruction within the limits set by the State will likely result in lower instructional costs per FTES and an economy of scale effect. The effect of increased institutional size on quality of education was not assessed. |
| Keyword | finance; California; community college; comparative analysis; benchmarking; instructional expenditures; economics; higher education; spending; instruction; education; economy of scale |
| Geographic subject (state) | California |
| Geographic subject (country) | USA |
| Coverage date | 1990/2010 |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m3775 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Karamian, Martin |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-Karamian-4454 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume23/etd-Karamian-4454.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 114 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 106 salary of full-time instructors increased, instructional costs also increased. While full-time instructor salary was positively correlated with instructional costs per FTES, part-time hourly pay was negatively correlated, albeit at a very small level. Implications This study has various policy implications for administrators in the CCC. First, colleges can take advantage of efficiency in instructional costs by increasing enrollment to the maximum level of growth set by the state. However, while expanding enrollment can lead to a cost savings in terms of dollars per FTES, if the enrollment level exceeds the growth funding limit mandated by the State for the fiscal year, these additional students will not contribute to the revenues of the college; hence, the additional enrollment may not be funded. However, all else equal, as the student population at a college grows, an economy of scale effect is achieved: costs per unit, or in this case FTES, decreases. Second, increasing class size will also decrease instructional costs per FTES; this policy is particularly important when districts are required to cut course offerings. The districts can place the overflow of students who would otherwise not be able to enroll into existing classes. The results of this study indicate that as colleges grow, classrooms tend to become larger. Furthermore, colleges that rely on a larger number of part-time instructors have lower instructional costs per FTES. While colleges can take advantage of the low cost of additional part-time instruction, campus leaders must insure that any State mandated requirement of a specific ratio of part-time to full-time instruction is satisfied. |
