Lumina Institution Costing Data Survey

November 29, 2007

Funded by the Lumina Foundation for Education, a national study of cost of instruction is under way. Part of the University of Virginia's project "Nontraditional Learners in Postsecondary Education: Emerging Pathways to Access and Success," the study includes:

(1) a synthesis of the research and literature, available at http://highered.org/docs/milam-costofinstructionsynthesis.pdf;

(2) an online survey of states' available costing data and models; and

(3) a comparable survey of institutions.

The first step in building cost studies is knowing what data are available. This survey documents the availability of various types of costing data along with the general use of cost models. The results will be used to document effective practices and templates for cost models. These will be disseminated through publications and workshops designed to help states and institutions build cost models that are more practical, accurate, and relevant.

Please complete the online Lumina Institution Costing Data Survey for your institution to document the range of costing data, models, and processes that currently exist. No institutional responses will be released by school name, and your survey information will be kept confidential. For more information, contact the project staff via e-mail at lumina@highered.org. Thank you for your participation in this important survey. A copy of the final results will be provided electronically to participants.

The survey is available online at: http://highered.org/lumina/institution.

For more information, contact:

John Milam, Ph.D./Chris Coutts, Ph.D.
HigherEd.org, Inc.
21 S. Kent Street
Winchester, VA 22601
E-mail: lumina@highered.org
Phone (540) 722-6060
http://highered.org