Article Review

Santuan Stanley
Georgia Southern University
EDLD 8432
Dr. Daniel Calhoun
June 6, 2015

Introduction
The article I chose to review was entitled The Financial Future of Research Universities. It was
written by Henry S. Bienen, a former president at Northwestern University. This review will
begin with a basic summary of the article, followed by my critique and reflection, my
implications on the financial future of higher education, and conclusion.
Summary
In this article Bienen examines some components and structures of research universities
in the United States at its present state and questions if they are going to be able to operate at the
same pace as before. He starts off by talking about the different ways these universities create
revenue and the possibilities of enhancing those profits. Research universities typically get their
revenue from endowments, tuition, donations and government payments, while a few more are
able to collect money from athletics, sales and technology transfers. He believes that all of these
money makers are not in very good shape which puts the universities futures in jeopardy.
According to Bienen, endowments seem to be in a steady climb since the repair of the economy
has begun, although Charitable giving to higher education is up from post-2008 lows but it is
not robust across the board (Bienen, p. 632). Also looking at another article it spoke about the
drop in endowments that occurred in 2008. At the vast majority of schools, the endowments
yield 5 percent or even less of the total budget, with the result that a 10 percent fall in the yield is
more like 0.5 percent of the total budget. (Weisbrod, 2010) Not looking back but looking
forward there is no real answer for if things will be on a steady climb or fall. Research funds
from the government have also taken a hit with the federal and state budget as well. State
funding has continued to decline and Bienen also predicts that the systems, like the Pell Grant,

are likely to decline as well. He also goes on to talk about how some costs can be cut from
different programs and aspects of the university. For an example he believes that the cost of
athletics should be cut by eliminating teams and reducing athletic scholarships NCAA voted to
give athletes even more expensive allocations, which does not make sense to me (Bienen, p.
634). He also believes in the reduction of facility programs, due to the operating cost for them,
and minimizing the amounts of cost associated with research. These are two of the toughest
things to do for research universities that pride themselves on gaining new and innovative
knowledge but have to do so with a smaller research budget and lesser facilities.
Critical Reaction
I believe the article was clear and well written but I do not agree with some of the points
that Bienen made. The cost of athletics can be expensive for a university but I believe the tuition
paid by the majority of those students offsets the cost. Many students across the country choose
their school based on which school gives them an opportunity to continue to play the sport that
they have played since childhood. I believe that if those sports arent offered at a particular
university then those particular students will go to another school and universities will miss out
on those tuition dollars. This is not taking into consideration the exposure that these universities
receive through their athletic programs. Take Georgia Southern for an examples the decision to
restart their football program has helped with students and money, not really sure how much but
when I moved to Statesboro it seemed as if this was what the school needed. Not only the school
but also the town of Statesboro needed it. Often, athletics are a selling point for non-athletes as
well, like I said before it helps with their decision and that brings revenue in. The article was
very biased as it was written by a former university president that shared his personal views on
the future of research universities, although there were valid points made with substantial

research to confirm it I still think things want be that bad. His viewpoints do make you sit back
and think though.
Implication
The main issue that was talked about in this article is the financial state of the university
and its future. Sources of revenue for research universities remain the same throughout the
changing economy, although the structure and the amount of money received has changed.
According to Bienen, some of the resources were on their way to their normal numbers before
the change in economic climate. One source he does not believe is going to get better in the
upcoming years is government funding. With all of the issues surrounding our state and federal
governments, higher education does not seem to be a priority in their list of agendas. This
impacts administrators at these institutions because these are all difficulties that affect their
universities. There is a constant battle with making sure that their revenue is more than their cost
which falls heavily on budget makers. This article taught me about the many different sources of
revenue for research universities, as well as their expenses and a prioritized outlook on which
programs, or aspects of programs, are more likely to be cut.

Reference
Bienen, H. S. (2012). The financial future of research universities. Social Research, 631-634.
Weisbrod, B. A., & Asch, E. D. (2010). The Truth About the Crisis in Higher Education
Finance. Change, 42(1), 23-29.