Financial factors and institutional characteristics that relate to the long-term debt of U.S. four-year public colleges and universities

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dc.contributorBray, Nathaniel J.
dc.contributorDavis, Cali M.
dc.contributorMajor, Claire Howell
dc.contributorParker, Pamela H.
dc.contributorWiest, John M.
dc.contributor.advisorHardy, David E.
dc.contributor.authorKeith, Dana S.
dc.contributor.otherUniversity of Alabama Tuscaloosa
dc.date.accessioned2017-03-01T16:46:49Z
dc.date.available2017-03-01T16:46:49Z
dc.date.issued2013
dc.descriptionElectronic Thesis or Dissertationen_US
dc.description.abstractDebt for public colleges and universities has been increasing while financial resources, which provide the support to repay debt, have been declining. As debt increases in proportion to assets, the risk profile of a college or university increases. This study examined the relationships between financial variables and institutional characteristics that relate to long-term debt and leverage of U.S. four-year public colleges and universities during a period of economic downturn. Understanding these relationships is needed to determine factors that enable or constrain public higher education's ability to borrow funds to meet organizational goals. In addition, this study also explored long-term debt and leverage trends categorized by Carnegie classification and geographic region from 2005 to 2009. The data for the study were obtained from IPEDS. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and OLS regression were used to analyze the data. The findings showed that both long-term debt and leverage of public institutions had increased from 2005 to 2009. However, leverage increased at a slower pace, which indicated that public universities were able to use existing assets to offset the increase in liabilities associated with the additional long-term debt. This study also found that differences existed in long-term debt by Carnegie classification. Doctoral/Research institutions had more long-term debt than Master's institutions, and Master's institutions had more long-term debt than Baccalaureate institutions. Although Master's institutions did not have the greatest amount of long-term debt, they had greater amounts of leverage than Doctoral/Research and Baccalaureate institutions in all fiscal years. Additionally, Master's and Doctoral/Research institutions located in the Northeast had mean leverage in all five years that exceeded recommended thresholds. The variable with the strongest relationship with long-term debt was property, plant, and equipment. Approximately 65.9% of the variance in long-term debt was explained by property, plant, and equipment. In comparison, the leverage model showed that geographic regions had the strongest relationship with leverage. Collectively, the West, Midwest, and Southeast regions accounted for 27.1% of the variance in leverage. The detailed results of the findings, conclusions, and recommendations are provided at the end of the study.en_US
dc.format.extent314 p.
dc.format.mediumelectronic
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.otheru0015_0000001_0001193
dc.identifier.otherKeith_alatus_0004D_11442
dc.identifier.urihttps://ir.ua.edu/handle/123456789/1668
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.publisherUniversity of Alabama Libraries
dc.relation.hasversionborn digital
dc.relation.ispartofThe University of Alabama Electronic Theses and Dissertations
dc.relation.ispartofThe University of Alabama Libraries Digital Collections
dc.rightsAll rights reserved by the author unless otherwise indicated.en_US
dc.subjectEducation finance
dc.subjectHigher education
dc.subjectHigher education administration
dc.titleFinancial factors and institutional characteristics that relate to the long-term debt of U.S. four-year public colleges and universitiesen_US
dc.typethesis
dc.typetext
etdms.degree.departmentUniversity of Alabama. Department of Educational Leadership, Policy, and Technology Studies
etdms.degree.disciplineEducational Leadership, Policy, and Technology Studies
etdms.degree.grantorThe University of Alabama
etdms.degree.leveldoctoral
etdms.degree.namePh.D.
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