Forecasting Financial Priorities for Technology

Abstract

At the end of the 1980s many colleges and universities developed financial models for technology based on then-current assumptions about student ownership of microcomputers, hardware life-cycles, maintenance contracts, and other factors. Many of those assumptions are no longer valid. With technology costs and revenue opportunities changing so rapidly, it is clear that future financial strategies will need to be more agile and adaptable than ever before. This paper presents financial models drawn from more than twenty independent colleges and universities and discusses how they are being used to define a technology financial strategy at Reed College.

Download Resources