Comparative Financial Statistics for Community and Junior Colleges, 1978-79: An Experimental Study of 184 Institutions.

Based on an examination of financial data collected from a nationwide sample of 184 two-year colleges, this five-part report facilitates the comparison of an individual institution's financial status with national averages and with averages for other colleges of the same size. Part I discusses the use of the report as an aid in comparative analysis, examines the representativeness of the sample, and summarizes major findings. Part II presents explanations, possible interpretations, and the limitations of median findings as they relate to: (1) expenditures for academic programs, support services, scholarships, credit and non-credit instruction, utilities, and plant maintenance; (2) revenues from tuition and fees; government appropriations; and gifts, grants, and contracts; (3) the proportion of full-time equivalent staff utilized for credit and non-credit instruction, public services, academic support, student services, instructional support, and plant operation; and (4) the average size of classes offered for credit. For comparison purposes, Part III examines findings for each of the above categories in terms of upper and lower quartiles, and Part IV presents a breakdown of median and quartile findings for colleges with enrollments less than 1,000, less than 5,000, between 5,000 and 15,000, and over 15,000. Finally, Part V presents scattergrams illustrating the relationship of selected findings, such as the ratio of enrollment to expenditures per student. (JP)