How the City University of New York (CUNY) Can Improve Efficiency, Reduce Waste, and Save Millions

Abstract

One researcher asserts that half of the 4,000 colleges and universities in the United States will be bankrupt within the next few decades. Change is coming whether colleges and universities like it or not. Think of what is happening to the newspapers and retailers. Unfortunately, most institutions of higher learning have a mindset that might have made sense in the industrial age but is dangerous in the knowledge economy. The institutions of higher education that survive will be the ones that learn how to eliminate waste and be efficient. This paper highlights several simple changes that have the potential of saving colleges millions of dollars. CUNY is used an example but most colleges will benefit from implementing these changes.

Keywords: Reducing waste in education, networking universities, merging colleges, City University of New York, administrative bloat, silo busting, organizational sluggishness

JEL Classification: C00, C10, C40, I20, L15, L21, L82, L86, M31, M37, O3