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Although Native Americans have owned and started the fewest small businesses of all U.S. minority groups, entrepreneurship is considered to be an efficient tool for alleviating their economic problems. Barriers to Native American entrepreneurship include poverty, scarce start-up capital, poor access to business education and technical assistance, low educational attainment, few role models, poor infrastructure, tribal regulations, and an orientation towards collectivism that is not conducive to business success. Despite these barriers, Native American entrepreneurship is increasing. While few individual Native Americans are entrepreneurs, many tribes are involved in successful businesses and entrepreneurial enterprises. Gaming is the most well known type of tribal business, with one-third of all tribes involved in casino operations. Groups are emerging to offer technical support to Native American entrepreneurs. Last year the National American Indian Chamber of Commerce was chartered, and federal legislation has created an Office of Native American Affairs within the Small Business Administration. An Oregon organization offers business training to Native Americans, a Native organization helps Indian communities develop financial institutions, and tribes run programs to provide capital for members who want to open businesses. An Arizona university hosts the Center for American Indian Economic Development, and tribal colleges offer business and entrepreneurship programs, although few Native American students are majoring in business administration. Continuing education, policies that endorse tribal self-determination, mentoring programs, and an emphasis on role models can encourage young Native Americans to consider entrepreneurship. (TD)

The Oregon Council for Knowledge and Economic Development (OCKED), a collaborative effort among Oregon's higher education institutions, economic development department, and the private sector, is charged with developing strategies to enhance Oregon's economic competitiveness in a knowledge-based, global economy. This report describes the council's efforts and recommendations in three areas: research and technology transfer; capital and business formation; and workforce development. The document contains an executive summary, the council report, four appendixes, and a glossary. The council report contains: (1) the objectives of the study; (2) the OCKED mission; (3) a table showing how Oregon ranks in research and development, capital, business formation, workforce, and higher education measures; (4) goals, outcomes, and recommendations for the three areas; (5) and a list of the council members, advisors and consultants. Appendix A contains the research and technology transfer committee report, Appendix B contains the capital and business formation committee report, Appendix C contains the workforce development committee report, and Appendix D contains the economic development metrics. The document also contains a glossary of economic development metrics. (SLR)

Creating opportunities for high-growth entrepreneurs is becoming increasingly important in rural America. Rural policymakers, who once focused on recruiting manufacturers that export low-value products, have realized that entrepreneurs can generate new economic value for their communities. Entrepreneurs add jobs, raise incomes, create wealth, improve the quality of community life, and help rural communities operate in the global economy. Each year, high-growth entrepreneurs create the bulk of new jobs in the United States. Still, rural America is creating relatively few high-growth entrepreneurs. To overcome the challenges of being small and remote, rural communities must help entrepreneurs tap venture capital markets to finance growth. They must help entrepreneurs gain access to the information and technology needed to spur growth. And they must help entrepreneurs acquire the technical and managerial skills to cultivate that growth. Rural policymakers are responding to these challenges by making entrepreneurship the cornerstone of many economic development strategies. Their strategies aim to build the skills of individual entrepreneurs, strengthen community resources for entrepreneurs, and create support networks. Universities and community colleges are offering entrepreneurship courses, and extension services provide programs to improve entrepreneurs' technical and Internet skills. Rural support networks are emerging in various forms, including networks of business incubators, angel investors, and technical assistance organizations. (TD)

Family background as a single entity, as distinguished from schooling in its effect, has been found to play a dominant role in children's educational outcomes on such indices as academic achievement, school persistence, and educational attainment. What are the mechanisms and/or processes through which family background creates and reproduces these educational patterns? Among the different theories proposed to understand the mechanisms/processes is the theoretical concept of forms of capital -- financial, human, social, and cultural. The concept of these four forms of capital and their relationship to education are critically examined, compared, and contrasted. A conceptual framework that incorporates family background, the concept of forms of capital, schooling facilitation, and educational outcomes are outlined. The conceptual framework is employed to explain the educational achievement patterns of three groups of children: (1) single-parent children, (2) children with employed mother, and (3) recent immigrant/refugee children. The paper refers to these three groups as "children of change." The paper concludes with theoretical and policy implications. (Contains 29 references.) (BT)

On March 18-19, 2002, over 1,200 women entrepreneurs from America convened in Washington, D.C., for an interactive conference. Hundreds of others participated via satellite. Delegates participated in workshops, panel discussions, and interactive voting sessions and heard presentations. Workshops focused on access to capital, trade, health insurance costs, understanding the tax code, access to government procurement, gaining media exposure, work/life balance, trends in technology, and retirement security. Highlights were these: health care costs were unsustainable for women entrepreneurs; access to capital was a key challenge for them; the federal government should be made small business-friendly; tax code complexity challenges women entrepreneurs; entrepreneurship is a tough work/life balancing act; women entrepreneurs are going global; they have retirement issues; and technology helps them succeed. (The document contains a letter from Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao, an executive summary, a conference report on the highlights listed above, remarks from two speakers, and the keynote address."Remarks" (Elaine L. Chao) calls on women entrepreneurs to be today's drivers of tomorrow's economic prosperity. "Remarks" (Hector V. Barreto) encourages women entrepreneurs to take advantage of Small Business Administration programs. "Keynote Address" (President George W. Bush) touches on small businesses, economic stimulus plan, tax reform, and making health care more available. (YLB)

To gain a perspective on rural America's future, seven roundtables consisting of seven rural stakeholder groups were convened. Four groups of challenges facing rural areas emerged. The rural business environment was considered the source of greatest challenge. Agriculture concerns included low profits and access to world markets. The effects of increasing consolidation, and a lack of diversity were concerns within agriculture and across the rural business spectrum, as were the roles of government regulations and tax policies. Challenges of community included a shrinking rural population and its related effects on tax bases, provision of services, the quantity and quality of available human capital and leadership skills, persistent poverty, and limited rural experience in business and economic development. Challenges associated with place ranked third. Mobilizing rural residents, getting exposure to policymakers, maintaining existing infrastructures, and building a new telecommunications infrastructure are limited by remoteness. Particular financial concerns included limited access to capital and the loss of local control that accompanies the takeover of local banks. Policy recommendations included implementing a rural-friendly approach in new and existing policies, improving support for rural businesses, strengthening rural infrastructure, increasing regional cooperation, and making more capital available. Rural strengths were identified as a sense of community, rural quality of life and landscape, and faith in rural entrepreneurs. (TD)

Innovative resource management can enable institutions to respond to changes in enrollment while remaining within budgetary parameters. Successful use of these techniques allows institutions a flexible resource management strategy geared towards future needs and changes. Some increased resources may be used to enhance the students' academic and social experience by providing more programs and services at reasonable tuition rates and student fees. Recent trends reflect a shift from use of traditional revenue resources to use of non-traditional resources. This report examines a narrative background of current fiscal practices in higher education, followed by an explanation of various traditional fiscal resources and non-traditional resources and techniques with examples of successes. Data analysis is presented on trends in the use of higher education resources. The authors draw conclusions on ways institutions can respond to needs for resources. (HB)

Grameen Banks are a model of successful support for the smallest businesses. The Grameen Bank began in 1976, when Muhammad Yunus, an economics professor at Chittagong University in southern Bangladesh, loaned Sufiya Khatun, a weaver of bamboo stools, $4 U.S. to buy supplies and raise her daily profit from 2 cents to $1.25. Her success prompted him, with help from his students, to set up a bank. Since the first loan, Grameen has grown to employ 14,000 staff in 35,000 villages in Bangladesh. In 1996 it provided 3.62 million loans with the average loan size of about $100 U.S., with a default rate of less than one-half of one percent. Six principles guide the bank: (1) it lends only to the poorest people; (2) women are the primary recipients; (3) loans are made without collateral; (4) borrowers control what business activity the loan will be used for; (5) the bank supports the borrower with training programs and incentives for saving; and (6) borrowers pay as little interest as necessary to keep the bank self-supporting. There are Grameen Bank replications in 30 countries, including the United States. The most well-established is ACCION International, originally founded in 1961 to aid Latin America. ACCION has six associate organizations in the United States (New York, Albuquerque, Chicago, San Antonio, San Diego, and El Paso), which function similarly to the Grameen Bank. By 2000, they hope to lend $50 million to more than 8,000 microentrepreneurs, creating or stabilizing 10,000 jobs, and then to expand to other U.S. cities. More than two dozen other projects based on the Grameen Bank are also operating in the United States. All are helping to eradicate poverty at the grassroots level and provide entrepreneurial opportunities to the poor. (16 references) (KC)

This paper presents a model of college choice that suggests that students' choice of college can be related to perceived "capital conversion" benefits. The model was tested on an evenly distributed sample (n=22,109) of students; one group attending elite colleges (with average freshman Scholastic Assessment Test scores of 1200 or higher) and the other attending less-selective colleges. Data for the 40 variables explored in the study were drawn from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) 1994 Freshman Survey. Descriptive analyses provided a profile of elite college students, and regression analyses identified the variables most strongly associated with attendance at highly selective institutions. The study findings support a pattern suggesting that students attending elite schools base future expectations on cultural capital, while those at non-elite schools base expectations on economic capital. Table 1 lists student descriptive statistics, and Table 2 provides standardized regression coefficients for the four selective college choice models. Appendices list elite (non-military) colleges in the CIRP database and provide an outline of the Cultural Capital College Choice Multivariate Model used in the study. (Contains approximately 50 references.) (CH)

Public schools in the United States will face significant infrastructure needs within the next few years. Some of the numerous issues surrounding these needs, as they affect Nevada's schools, are detailed in this report. Current practices in Nevada have followed those of other quickly growing school systems in which funds are being diverted from routine maintenance and capital improvement so as to support programs. Some remedies to this practice, such as general obligation bonds or "pay-as-you-go" funding, are explored. For the benefit of comparison, capital construction in other states and varying levels of participation are presented. Some possible alternatives for state assistance in Nevada are covered, such as structural alternatives and financing alternatives, including state general obligation bonds, state revenue bonds, and state appropriations. Options currently under consideration in other states are likewise discussed. It is argued that the recent spate of equity lawsuits involving facilities construction in other states should guide any participation by Nevada in school construction; mechanisms to define state involvement should promote equity in capital expenditures. Four appendixes, which compose one-half of the paper, offer profiles of Nevada school demographics, the state's role in financing, needs assessment, and historical practices in state assistance. (RJM)

The effects of parental wealth and human capital on the probability of an individual entering self-employment and the relationship between gender and propensity toward self-employment were examined through an analysis of data from the four original cohorts of the National Longitudinal Survey (NLS) of Labor Market Experience. The data sets represented 11-15 survey years for each cohort and included demographic and income variables and education, self-employment, and asset measures. Among the study's main conclusions were the following: (1) although the annual rate of self-employment reaches only 15%, self-employment touches one-fifth of young men and occupies nearly one-half of their early careers; (2) self-employment among young women is roughly one-third lower than among young men; (3) parental history of self-employment is associated with a probability of entering self-employment but not with intensity of self-employment or age at which self-employment begins; (4) asset holdings are positively correlated with self-employment among young men but not among young women; (5) a moderate relationship exists between self-employment and parental wealth; and (6) own-wealth accumulation aids self-employment among young men but not young women. (Contains 17 references. Appended are a summary of NLS data sets and 20 tables.) (MN)

This report compiles and analyzes endowment data for 128 New England colleges and universities with endowments valued at $1 million or more on June 30, 1992. These endowments are compared with 1977, 1982, and 1987 data. Findings reveal that: (1) the value of all New England college and university endowments grew from an estimated $3.55 billion at the end of fiscal 1977 to $16.7 billion at the end of fiscal 1992, with the majority of this growth occurring between 1982 and 1987; (2) endowment growth rates were particularly high among Catholic colleges, private 2-year colleges, regional liberal arts colleges, specialty schools, and public land-grant universities; (3) three institutions--Harvard University, Yale University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology--accounted for 57 percent of New England endowment funds, though they enroll less than 5 percent of the region's college and university students; and (4) half of all college and university students in New England in 1992 attended institutions with endowment levels at or below $976 per student, for which the endowment return supports only a fraction of one percent of annual expenditures. A table lists endowment market value, endowment per student, and share of 1991 budget covered by endowment for each of the 128 responding institutions. (JDD)

This publication contains detailed reports from the eight subcouncils established by the Competitiveness Policy Council to develop specific policy recommendations in eight areas. "Building a Standards-Based School System" (Education Subcouncil) recommends redirecting the education system toward achieving the National Education Goals, developing standards and new assessments, developing capacity of schools and youngsters to achieve high standards, and developing an incentive and accountability system. "Building High-Performance Workplaces" (Training Subcouncil) proposes a four-part economic strategy: build a training system that works, promote continual skills development, enhance school and work integration, and ease the adjustment process. "Technology Policy for a Competitive America" (Critical Technologies Subcouncil) recommends increasing national investment in civilian and dual-use research and development, promoting commercialization of strategic technology, creating a world-class technology base, and organizing organizations for results. "The Will to Act" (Subcouncil on Corporate Governance and Financial Markets) proposes improvements in the corporate governance process by corporation, shareholder monitoring in this process, and improved corporate performance evaluation. "A Trade Policy for a More Competitive America" (Trade Policy Subcouncil) recommends creation of an "export mentality," world growth strategies and exchange rate coordination, trade negotiations to open markets, export promotion, export disincentive reduction, and a streamlined trade bureaucracy. "Forging the Future: Policy for American Manufacturing" (Manufacturing Subcouncil) recommends leadership for manufacturing excellence, investment in manufacturing assets, and effective use of manufacturing assets. "Investing in Our Future" (Public Infrastructure Subcouncil) focuses on needs for action in the areas of efficient transportation, adequate financing, and advancement of new telecommunications technologies. "Saving, Investment, and the Budget" (Capital Formation Subcommittee) recommends two ways to increase national savings: raising private savings and reducing public spending. (YLB)

The Competitiveness Policy Council (CPC) concludes that the United States continues to face major competitiveness problems despite recent increases in the growth of both the economy and national productivity. It proposes sweeping educational reform in three areas: developing content and performance standards; ensuring that schools have the flexibility, expertise, and resources to achieve the National Education Goals; and holding schools accountable for students' achievement. CPC's recommendations for training have four dimensions: lifetime learning, school-to-work transition, retraining for dislocated workers, and improvement of worker training programs. Industry should be promoted in the following ways: enacting an innovation and commercialization tax credit; redirecting government spending to civilian and dual-use research and development; expanding federal support for cooperative projects with private industry; monitoring by boards of directors of corporate performance; preparing by companies of periodic analyses of long-term performance; and expanding exports. Private investment should be encouraged through a permanent equipment tax credit, authorization of industry consortia for joint production, and more rapid depreciation allowances. Recommendations to improve the public infrastructure, especially the transportation system, have also been proposed. The CPC recommends that national saving be increased by raising private saving and reducing public spending. (Members' biographies and subcouncil member lists are appended.) (YLB)

Looking for ways to save money within the Stafford Student Loan program, a study was done to measure the effect that a lower special allowance could have on the supply of Stafford loans made with private capital. The special allowance is an incentive payment to commercial lenders who participate in guaranteed student loan programs. The study used a multiple regression analysis that focused on the relationship between commercial lenders' rates of return and the supply of Stafford loans they financed. This allowed the study to predict the commercial supply of Stafford loans that corresponds to lower special allowances. Results of the study indicated that a lower special allowance should cause little change in commercial lending, that such a reduction would mean significant program savings, and would result in more loans by fewer lenders. This could be done while not adversely affecting the Stafford loan program's reliance on loan capital supplied from the private market, attenuating students' access to subsidized loans, or discouraging most lenders from participating. It was estimated that a special allowance reduction to 3 percent would result in about a 1 percent decrease in projected commercial loan volume. Appendixes contain details of the statistical methodology and regression models. (JB)

A study was done of private liberal arts colleges and universities and their recent experiences with conducting capital campaigns. A 24 question checklist-style survey was mailed to 29 institutions in 17 states. Participants were either currently engaged in a capital fund raising campaign or had recently completed one. Twelve of the 29 colleges responded to the first mailing. This was followed by telephone interviews. All 29 colleges eventually responded either by mail or by telephone. Data were analyzed by calculating simple means for most of the questions. The typical institution was a 125-year-old private institution with 65.5 percent claiming a religious heritage. The larger the trustee body, the greater the percentage of the total goal was their personal giving. The average percentage for all boards was 27.2 percent. On average 47.5 percent of alumni gave to campaigns. In addition, the largest gift to a campaign was: typically from an individual; given before the campaign was publicly announced; and in the $2 million to $6 million range. The institution's president was important to campaign success as an active participant and visible leader. Successful planning initiated and led by the president tended to draw trustees into the campaign planning. Timing in response to economic conditions was often mentioned as an important consideration. Most colleges exceeded their overall campaign goals. (JB)

This publication presents an assessment of various methods applicable for measurement of lender profitability with particular emphasis on net present value (NPV) in order to determine whether the Department of Education's current method for determining lender profitability within the Stafford Student Loan program is the best. The introduction points out that the NPV method of capital budgeting is currently accepted by economists and the financial community as the best of several methods within capital budgeting theory as it is easy to implement and determines the investment that maximizes the value of the firm. The body of the paper describes NPV in detail with the first subsection treating criteria for selection of this model. The second subsection describes NPV analysis by financial institutions covering revenues, expenses, cost of funds, and discount rate. A section on the weaknesses of this approach lists three drawbacks: errors in cash flow and discount rate if data are not carefully estimated, the same discount rate across loans and time periods implying that rates are not going to change over time; and difficulties accounting for every cost and benefit of student loans. Detailed appendixes treat ratio analysis, capital budgeting, portfolio theory, the capital asset pricing model, and the option pricing model. Included are 10 endnotes and a 27-item bibliography. (JB)

The University of Georgia (UG) conducted a complete campus building condition evaluation survey in 1989 that identified the nature and magnitude of the capital renewal/deferred maintenance requirements for each campus building. The survey design was based on a model developed by Harlan Bareither at the University of Illinois. Data were collected at weekly meetings held for 3 hours each over several months. The dollar value of all necessary capital renewal and deferred maintenance work was estimated on a building by building basis. The total analysis covered 1,118 buildings comprising over 11 million square feet. The estimate for each building was compared to the total replacement value of the building and the resultant percentage deficiency was recorded. Results found that: (1) roof and window replacements totaled almost $19 million; (2) new fixed equipment and elevators totaled over $36 million; (3) plumbing and fire protection waste piping and sprinkler systems totaled over $22 million; (4) replacement of heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems equipment and controls accounted for almost $79 million; and (5) new distribution wiring and fire alarms were estimated at $22 million. The analysis also noted that under a formula funding system like the one UG uses, the total deficiency of almost 30 percent cannot be corrected with the planned yearly funding level of .75 percent of total replacement cost. (Contains 43 references.) (JB)

An assessment was done of the Department of Education's (ED) approach to determining lender profitability for Guaranteed Student Loans. The assessment described the current net present value (NPV) method as well as discussing its strengths and weaknesses. The NPV method has been widely accepted for determining the profitability of different lending activities, including student loans. The approach is appealing because it accounts for all cash flows throughout the life of a loan as well as the opportunity cost of making a loan. This approach has also allowed lenders to evaluate the loan independently of other lending activities. In particular the assessment found that the ED model accurately determines lending profitability for this program, that it depends on a number of assumptions, that the appropriate discount rate is the lender's cost of capital adjusted for the relative riskiness of student loans compared to other types of lending, that assumptions used in ED's analysis erred on the side of understating lender profitability, that student loans could help insulate financial institutions from economic downturn, and that the analysis probably does not fully account for the relatively low level of liquidity and interest rate risk faced by lending institutions. Includes one table and five references. (JB)

A complete campus building condition evaluation survey was conducted at the University of Georgia in 1989 and results for the housing department were analyzed. The survey design was based on a model developed by Harlan Bareither at the University of Illinois that separates building deficiencies into seven general headings. Data were collected at weekly meetings held for 3 hours each over several months. The dollar value of all necessary capital renewal and deferred maintenance work was estimated on a building by building basis. The total analysis of housing department buildings covered 47 buildings comprising over 2 million square feet. The estimate for each building was compared to the total replacement value of the building and the resultant percentage deficiency recorded. The final analysis found that: (1) roof and window replacements totaled almost $3 million; (2) new fixed equipment and elevators totaled almost $5 million; (3) plumbing and fire protection waste piping and sprinkler systems totaled almost $4.5 million; (4) replacement of heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems equipment and controls required over $18 million; and (5) new wiring and fire alarms needs were estimated to require $3 million. A conclusion notes that other colleges and universities may expect deficiency percentages similar to these and that the Bareither model was very thorough. (Contains 45 references.) (JB)

Discusses the impact of the 1999 North Carolina General Assembly House Bill 168, which mandated the implementation of performance-based funding for the state's 58 community colleges. States that a college's performance on six of the 12 measures determines its eligibility for supplemental allocation. Questions whether the new standards will affect student access and undermine the community college mission. (Contains 65 references.) (NB)

Using Bourdieu's theory of cultural capital, which explains how social class influences transmission of educational inequality, this article questions the extent to which various forms of capital also apply to ethnic minorities. Discusses a study of Dutch, Surinamese, Turkish, and Moroccan students, which found that there was no mediating effect of resources within the various groups. (Contains 34 references.) (NB)

A study analyzed the contributions of education to U.S. economic growth during the years 1948 to 1973. By allocating the growth of the quality of labor input among the contributions of changes in the composition of the labor force by sex, age, education, employment status, and occupation, researchers were able to separate the contribution of education to economic growth from the contributions of other changes in the composition of the labor force. They concluded that investment in education is very large by comparison with labor market input, amounting to 5.13 times labor input in 1973. The rate of growth for investment is twice as high as that of labor input. Investment is highest for elementary education, next to highest for secondary education, and lowest for higher education. Another finding of the study is that while the value of investment per student in constant price rises for males and females with elementary and secondary education, this value peaked for college trained males in 1955 and for college trained females in 1950. (This study is one in a series on the relationship between education and productivity.) (MN)