Chapter III. Distribution of Expenditures

Great difficulty is encountered in analyzing the expenditures of the land-grant institutions because of the lack of uniformity in their classification. This is due to an uncertainty as to whether expenditures reported under a given heading in one institution represent similar expenditures in another institution. On account of the lack of accuracy of data submitted in this respect, it has been decided to base the study of expenditures upon reports made by the land-grant colleges to the Federal Government for the fiscal year 1928. The classifications contained in the reports are quite uniform throughout and represent the amounts officially given by the institutions as to their actual expenditures for each of the several items.

The grand total expenditures of the 52 land-grant institutions for 1928 amounted to $139,632,601. Of this sum, $112,346,451 was expended for operation and maintenance, $23,070,067 for capital outlays, and $4,116,083 for trust funds. The figures include expenditures for administration, resident instruction, library, extension, experiment station, research, physical plant, operation and maintenance, physical plant extension, trust funds, residence and dining halls, athletics, hospitals, dispensaries, revolving funds, auxiliary enterprises, extracurricular activities, and for all other purposes.

Expenditures for capital outlay are variable. In some years the colleges receive large funds for physical plant expansion and equipment while in other years little or no funds are available. In consequence there is a difference in expenditures for capital outlay from year to year. There are also a great many noneducational expenditures, such as residence and dining halls, athletics, hospitals, dispensaries, auxiliary services, and similar enterprises, which not only have no relationship to the academic functions, but also vary to a considerable degree in amounts annually dependent upon their receipts. Most of these undertakings are operated on a rotary fund basis.

Any sound appraisal of expenditures, therefore, must take into consideration the direct expenditures for the accomplishment of the educational work in contradistinction to other services. For this reason, in the ensuing analysis it is proposed to exclude expenditures noneducational in character and to consider only expenditures for educational purposes or purposes contributing directly to the

educational work of the institutions. Much importance attaches to such an appraisal. Successful financial operation of the colleges involves a balanced adjustment of expenditures for administration and physical plant operation with expenditures for resident instruction, general library, extension, experiment station, and research. The distribution of the expenditures between these items, allowing for differences in local conditions, indicates to a degree whether the resources are being effectively expended to carry out the academic program and to attain the educational objectives of the institutions. Such a comparison of expenditures also reveals whether unduly large proportions are expended to cover overhead costs of adminis tration and of physical plant operation. Table 14 shows the expenditures exclusively for educational and contributory purposes with proportions for the various items.