Research Analyst Suffolk University Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Session Abstract: Higher-ed institutions across the country are facing increasingly new financial challenges whether through a demographic decline, administrative complexities associated with federal financial aid, or declining number of international students. So, how financially healthy are your academic programs? And how do you calculate this? This session presents a practical, data-driven framework for measuring program-level profit and loss, combining revenue analysis, cost allocation, and indirect expense distribution into a clear, reproducible model. Built on real-world examples from a 4 year private institution in the Northeast. This approach shows how institutional researchers can partner with finance, HR and academic units to build financial models that inform decision-making. Attendees will leave with the tools and logic needed to adapt this framework to their own context, and alternative options when certain data or partnerships are not readily available.
Keywords: Program Financial Analysis, Decision Support, Program Review
