Spending Patterns of Metropolitan Universities: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

Metropolitan universities often point out they are underfunded for their mission. Using data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (!PEDS) relational database, the author assesses the financial resources and expenditure patterns of members of the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities and compares them to non-metropolitan peers. The analysis verifies that metropolitan institutions have fewer resources to work with than others in their Carnegie classification, and reveals a unique pattern of allocations and expenditures for metropolitan universities.