Colleges on the Brink: The Case for Financial Exigency

This book is about the serious financial struggles that an increasing number of colleges are facing in the post-pandemic era and what can be done to help resolve them. The tools described – including the extreme measures associated with financial exigency – can be used to change the ways colleges spend their money while still maintaining the academic values most institutions want to honor. This book highlight the major financial headwinds facing American higher education and why those headwinds may be stronger than at earlier points in history. The authors discuss financial exigency and several of its close counterparts or “near exigencies” when institutions undergo large-scale reorganizations or budget resets to reduce their expenses. They outline the conditions that give rise to the need for major financial overhauls, and discuss the steps that can maximize the likelihood they’ll help institutions regain their financial health. The challenge these colleges face is to build a road back from that brink and become better institutions that are leaner, more financially stable, and ready to provide the education that students and society need. This book offers a road back, albeit a hard one, but one that is navigable by the resourceful colleges and universities that remain one of America’s greatest assets.