Faced with growing financial pressures, how can colleges and universities strike a balance between their mission and long-term sustainability? On this episode of the FutureU podcast, hosts Michael Horn and Jeff Selingo are joined by Rick Staisloff, founder of the RPK Group, to unpack the complexities of college budgeting. Their conversation explores centralized vs. decentralized budget models, implementation strategies, non-tuition revenue streams, and the major drivers of institutional costs.
Rick introduces what he calls the “financial bucket problem”—a challenge institutions face in connecting revenues and costs across large programs and services: “The buckets are too big, so we just can’t connect what we’re spending … and what we get for it.” He stresses the need for more precise reporting systems and a shift toward a return-on-investment mindset, where institutions assess the value they receive for each dollar spent.
To help colleges become more financially resilient, Rick outlines three key strategies: building strong business intelligence capabilities, establishing clear performance metrics, and having the courage to reallocate resources toward more sustainable models.