The Costs Of Further Education

The Costs of Further Education: A British Analysis offers a critique of the organization of further education in Britain, especially education provided in technical colleges. Emphasis is placed on how the resources allocated to education should be divided among various alternatives. This volume consists of nine chapters organized into three sections. After an overview of further education in Britain, the reader is introduced to the financial costs of providing education courses. The use of information on average costs to estimate marginal financial costs is discussed, along with the imputed costs of student time and the factors that affect the distribution of total cost between various groups. The chapters that follow focus on benefits and their relationship to costs for various courses, along with the principle for project selection. The method of obtaining the cross-section age-earning profiles is described. The concluding chapter includes a summary statement of the present situation and a suggestion for reform. This book is a valuable resource for educators, administrators, and policy planners involved or are interested in British further education.

In 2001, the newly established Learning and Skills Council (the Council) took over a programme of capital works in the further education sector, to renew an estate that was too large, with much of it in poor condition and no longer fit for modern educational purposes. By March 2008, a total of £4.2 billion of projects had been approved 'in detail', including grant support from the Council of £1.7 billion, and about half of the estate had been renewed. Since April 2008, there has been a very serious failure in the management of the programme. It approved 'in principle' 79 colleges' projects, which required nearly £2.7 billion of Council funding more than it could afford. Before the current problems arose, the programme had achieved some successes, enabling the estate to be reduced in size, and the buildings are generally of good quality and are contributing to increased learner participation. The economic downturn could affect colleges' ability to fund projects by restricting their access to loan finance or their ability to sell surplus assets. The indebtedness of the sector is rising. The Council needs to monitor closely the financial health of some colleges, particularly those that have borrowings that exceed 40 per cent of their annual income. In 2010, the Council is expected to be dissolved and its functions taken over by the Skills Funding Agency and the Young People's Learning Agency. There needs to be clarity about responsibilities for the capital programme, and additional administrative burdens on colleges must be avoided.

It is an exciting time to be a librarian. Advances in technology have let libraries expand far beyond walls and lead the way in information delivery, while transforming the physical library into a place where customers can connect to information in new ways. It is also a challenging time to be a librarian. With continual change as the new normal, staying current can seem overwhelming. Even as they face budget shortfalls and staff reductions, librarians are tasked with finding the time and resources to keep abreast of rapid changes. This book offers a cornucopia of practical advice about how to acquire new skills (and formal and informal credentials) through all stages of a career. The 27 essays cover formal and online education, conferences, fellowships, workshops, networking, teaching, mentoring, balancing personal with professional lives, and money matters--and are filled with practical, honest and real-world advice.

First Published in 1997. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This is the first book which authoritatively reviews the UK expenditure on education from 1920 – 1955, both by local authorities and private schools. The book takes the main elements of education in turn and discusses them in detail. There are original studies of local authority finance, of teachers’ pay and of the economics of private education. It examines educational spending by social class and compares the growth of educational services in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

After more than a century of being undervalued, further education has been thrust into the limelight. How have the colleges fared? How have they been shaped by the new arrangements for funding, governance, inspection and the new qualifications framework? What do those running the colleges and working in them make of the changes? What are their prospects for the new millennium? Further Education Reformed is the definitive account of where further education has got to and where it might be heading. Containing specifically commissioned papers by some of the most respected academics currently working in the field of further education, this book draws the situation as it is now and looks forward to the developments of the coming years. It will be vital reading for anyone concerned with further education in particular, and education in general, whether as a policy-maker, governor, manager, teacher, employer or student.