SHEEO--- all about finance

State Higher Education Executive Officers – SHEEO

By Lloyd Smith

            Excellence in higher education systems nationwide is the goal of SHEEO. They serve the highest levels of a state’s coordinating and governing boards, such as THEC, TBR and the UT System in Tennessee. Their focus is in development and sustainment of higher education organizations throughout the United States. SHEEO researches and compiles useful links and data for the assessment of financial systems within higher education, and provide needed analysis of the current trends in financing postsecondary institutions.

            SHEEO answers critical questions for developing and sustaining the financial health of colleges and universities state and nationwide. Some of the key questions SHEEO addresses are: how much financial support is necessary and adequate to meet each state’s goals for higher education; how to distribute equally available state resource allocations for higher education among institutions’ purposes and priorities, current and emerging, fairly; what is an equitable formula for the amount a student must pay (sticker price) and the amount the state must provide (true cost) to keep the institution solvent, and what are the qualifications needed and amounts available to students from the state for their higher education. These are tough questions to answer, especially in today’s economy, and in the future. The complexity of these problems are exacerbated by the endless issues that arise when managing a college or university with limited state resources, and the need to increase productivity and efficiency at the institutional level.

            There are many projects SHEEO is currently involved in, and all are finance based projects. One project is the State Higher Education Finance (SHEF) Report, which is used as a tool to assist educators and policymakers with addressing public policy in higher education and the questions that arise with the policies. Another project is the “Survey of State Tuition, Fees, and Financial Assistance Policies”, which began in 1988. This project has been updated several times, and has recently published their 2010-2011 report this year. This report is a valuable tool not only for policymakers and educators, but for students involved in research initiatives within their educational programs. The last most current project SHEEO is working on is “Changing Direction: Integrating Higher Education Financial Aid and Financing Policy”. This project’s focus is in the examination of current financial aid structure and the financing policies and practices that will determine how students will participate in, have access to, and succeed in higher education. SHEEO’s mission is a leader in higher education finance and financial policy.

Information for SHEEO is retrieved from: www.sheeo.org/finance