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Descriptors:
Foreign Countries; Financial Exigency; Financial Problems; Higher Education; Financial Support; Undergraduate Students; Colleges; Income; Economic Development; Educational Finance

Abstract:
The accountants Grant Thornton (GT) do a welcome and nice piece of pro bono work by analysing the annual accounts of the UK's 160 (sic) HEIs and compiling a report on "The Financial Health of the Higher Education Sector"--this year entitled "The calm before the storm"! GT duly note that, if the US Department of Education's "ratio-based methodology" were applied to the UK HEIs, 104 of them would "fare well" under this way of assessing "the financial condition" of universities and colleges, while a not insignificant thirty-four would require "careful monitoring" and a worrying twenty-two "would be barred from Federal funding programmes". However, GT warn of the gathering storm clouds: notably the uncertainty over the recruitment of Home/EU undergraduates as the higher fees kick in, the impact on overseas student numbers of the UK Border Agency's increasingly stringent policy on (not) awarding immigration visas, and the massive cost of eventually having to catch up with a long-term backlog of infrastructure maintenance and ageing buildings. Thus, GT sees UK HE as "entering a period of uncertainty" in which Government HE policy will have "potentially devastating consequences" and in which some HEIs "may find it difficult to survive as autonomous bodies". Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Acculturation; Social Isolation; Structural Equation Models; Second Language Learning; Language Proficiency; Language Usage; Stress Variables; Interpersonal Communication; Foreign Students; Foreign Countries; College Students; Chinese; Native Speakers; Communication Problems; English (Second Language); Role; Financial Problems

Abstract:
Although much research has focused on the influence of second language (L2) proficiency on L2 use and on outcomes of intercultural adaptation, these two strands have remained largely separate. This study examines the impact of willingness to communicate in the L2 (L2 WTC) on the daily hassles and stress of international students, with the aim of demonstrating a conceptual overlap of the L2 WTC model with theories of stress and cross-cultural adaptation that focus on a transactional person-environment fit. Participants included 104 Chinese-speaking students attending a British university. Structural equation modeling supported a model in which L2 WTC played a significant role in the experience of daily hassles related to communication difficulties, social isolation, and time and financial constraints. A second, similar model is also advanced in which communication difficulties, in particular, are afforded a unique role. Results support the appropriateness of locating L2 WTC within a general transactional framework of cross-cultural adaptation. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Foreign Countries; Economic Climate; Longitudinal Studies; Mail Surveys; Psychological Patterns; Well Being; Income; Multiple Regression Analysis; Economic Factors; Unemployment; Adults; Resilience (Psychology); Physical Health; Social Indicators; Measurement; Sociometric Techniques; Socioeconomic Influences; Demography; Psychometrics; National Surveys; Correlation; Predictor Variables; Financial Problems

Abstract:
There is a common belief that economic crisis will lead to a decrease in subjective wellbeing. Previous studies indicate that income is correlated with happiness and unemployment with unhappiness. The relationship between increased income and happiness is well documented while the impact of decreased income has been less explored. The aim of this paper is to study how the economic downfall in Iceland, followed by reduced income and increased unemployment, affects happiness as well as to explore which groups are most vulnerable to changes in happiness and which are most resilient. The study is a longitudinal, nationally representative postal survey which assessed 5,918 individual's aged 18-79. A total of 4,092 (77.3%) answered again in 2009. The relationship between economic factors and happiness was explored using multiple linear regression to find out how much they explain of the happiness variance and the changes in happiness, together with demographic factors, health and social relationships. Results indicate that income and unemployment did not predict happiness but financial difficulties did. A decrease in happiness was detected after the collapse. The change in happiness from 2007 to 2009 was normally distributed, 40% had the same score in both years and an equal number increased as decreased. The explored factors did not explain the changes in happiness. The economic crisis had a limited affect on happiness. Those with financial difficulties were hardest hit. Changes in happiness need to be studied further since they are not well explained by the factors which influence cross-sectional levels of happiness. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Risk; Parents; Family Violence; Marital Status; Stress Variables; Correlation; Intimacy; Friendship; Interpersonal Relationship; Delinquency; Children; Financial Problems; Age Differences

Abstract:
The substantial number of young people in romantic relationships that involve intimate partner violence, a situation deleterious to physical and mental health, has resulted in increased attention to understanding the links between risk factors and course of violence. The current study examined couples' interpersonal stress related to not liking partners' friends and not getting along with parents as contextual factors associated with couples' psychological partner violence and determined whether and when couples' friend and parent stress increased the likelihood of couples' psychological partner violence. A linear latent growth curve modeling approach was used with multiwave measures of psychological partner violence, friend stress, parent stress, and relationship satisfaction obtained from 196 men at risk for delinquency and their women partners over a 12-year period. At the initial assessment, on average, the men were age 21.5 years and the women were age 21 years. Findings indicated that couples experiencing high levels of friend and parent stress were more likely to engage in high levels of psychological partner violence and that increases in couples' friend stress predicted increases in couples' partner violence over time, even when accounting for the couples' relationship satisfaction, marital status, children in the home, and financial strain. Interactive effects were at play when the couples were in their early 20s, with couples being most at risk for increases in psychological partner violence if they experienced both high friend stress and low relationship satisfaction. Couples' friend stress had the greatest effect on psychological partner violence when the couples were in their early to mid 20s when levels of friend stress were high. As the couples reached their 30s, low relationship satisfaction became the leading predictor of couples' psychological partner violence. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Educational Finance; Educational Opportunities; School Districts; Privatization; School Support; Student Transportation; Food Service; Cost Effectiveness; Operations Research; Strategic Planning; Statistical Distributions; Statistical Surveys; Contracts; Outsourcing; Sanitation; Shared Resources and Services; Program Effectiveness; School Administration; Ancillary School Services; Financial Problems; Economic Impact

Abstract:
Michigan's School Aid fund increased once more this year, but many school administrators in the state continue to hunt for effective measures to reduce spending due to increased pension costs and phased-out stimulus money. Many options available for trimming costs, such as enacting pay-to-play for sports, are extremely unpopular for districts and may reduce the quality of education available to students. However, privatization of support services such as food, custodial and transportation services is a promising opportunity for many districts to save money without reducing educational opportunity. Over 60 percent of Michigan school districts have now contracted out at least one of these three services and have saved Michigan taxpayers millions in the process. 335 of the state's 549 public school districts, or 61 percent, have now privatized one or more major support services. Sixty-six districts began a support-service contract within the past year. This growth continues a decade-long trend of increased contracting by Michigan schools, which the Mackinac Center has studied since 2001. Each of the three major support services saw a growth in privatization over the past year. The 2012 Survey Results include: (1) 61 percent of districts (335 out of 549) contract out for at least one of their food, custodial or transportation services; (2) 126 districts contract out for at least two major support services; (3) Districts contracted out 85 total services; and (4) 11 districts brought a service back in-house. Appended are: (1) Revisions to Previous Publications; and (2) Map of Survey Findings by School District. (Contains 9 graphs.) [For the 2011 edition of this report, see ED541514.] Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Educational Policy; Low Achievement; Foreign Countries; Private Colleges; Universities; Educational History; Social Change; Economic Change; Competition; Financial Problems; Legal Problems; School Turnaround; Organizational Climate; Educational Change

Abstract:
While China has a long history of private institutions of higher learning, they disappeared almost entirely after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 and did not re-emerge until the 1980s. Their reappearance is one of the ramifications of economic marketisation and privatisation in China. But private higher education institutions are now facing new challenges and competition in the education system. Approximately 500 of them were shut down between 2000 and 2009 for financial, legal or other reasons. Looking through the theoretical lens of organisational ecology--a sociological theory that applies ecological principles to organisational studies--this paper traces how the social and economic environment induced the re-emergence of private universities in China and how it has had an impact on their non-linear pattern of development. Using a number of relevant theory fragments from the overarching framework of organisational ecology as tools, the author then explores possible strategies for turning around low-performing private universities in China. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Children; Money Management; Banking; Family Income; Well Being; Child Rearing; Anxiety; Parent Attitudes; Financial Problems; Structural Equation Models; Parent Participation; Paying for College

Abstract:
Objectives: Using baseline and second wave data, the study evaluated the impact of child savings accounts participation on parenting stress, personal mastery, and economic strain with N = 381 lower income parents who decided to join and those who did not join in a child development savings account program. Methods: Structural equation modeling for multiple group and time models was performed. Results: The degree of parenting stress at the first measurement occasion (M = 2.02, standard deviation [SD] = 0.34) was significantly different, [Delta][chi][superscript 2](2, n = 381) = 28.30, p less than 0.001, (at the 0.017 level; Bonferroni correction) from the second measurement occasion (M = 1.93, SD = 0.34); however, the effect size was in the small-to-medium range (d = 0.25). Conclusions: Participation in such programs does not negatively affect the well-being of parents. Implications are directed toward practice, policy, and research. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
College Administration; Vocational Education; Foreign Countries; Educational Change; Semi Structured Interviews; Financial Problems; Pedagogical Content Knowledge; Systems Analysis; Theory Practice Relationship; Organizational Objectives; Best Practices; Teacher Attitudes; Standards; Work Ethic

Abstract:
Although there has been substantial research and reform in Vocational Education and Training (VET) over the past 30 years, it is argued that this has ostensibly had limited effectiveness on practices in TAFE colleges. Many policy changes during this period have not resulted in the requisite changed practices by TAFE teachers. This paper reports on an investigation of the concerns for TAFE teachers in Western Australia when carrying out their work functions in a changing VET environment. Using semi-structured interviews with 55 TAFE teachers from three colleges the study explored the everyday lives of this workforce, also known as VET practitioners. The issues which emerged were categorised in four broad themes: college administration systems, financial constraints, pedagogical skills and college management. In addition, TAFE teachers indicated that they were adopting an unofficial code of professional conduct using practices which may not necessarily align with organisational objectives. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Foreign Countries; Foreign Students; Undergraduate Students; Graduate Students; Enrollment Trends; Financial Problems; Student Recruitment

Abstract:
This article discusses the results of the latest "Open Doors" report from the Institute of International Education. The report states that thousands of mainland Chinese students in pursuit of an American education helped drive up international enrollments at colleges across the United States. Double-digit growth from China, primarily at the undergraduate level, along with a steady uptick in Saudi Arabian students are largely responsible for the increase in international enrollments to 764,495, a 5.7-percent rise over the year before. These drivers are so significant that for the first time in 11 years there are more international undergraduate than graduate students in the United States. However, arrivals have declined from some of the other countries that typically send many students. Aside from China and Saudi Arabia, numbers from other countries that American colleges rely most on for international students either declined or saw marginal growth. That includes South Korea, where enrollments have hovered around 72,000 for several years, and Japan, where enrollments plummeted 41 percent in five years. India, which once sent more students to the United States than any other country, continues to flatline. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Chronic Illness; Dietetics; Social Work; Patients; Diseases; Health Insurance; Disabilities; Drug Therapy; Costs; Pharmacy; Interviews; Emotional Response; Physical Health; Stress Variables; Financial Problems

Abstract:
Medicare Part D was enacted to help elderly and disabled individuals pay for prescription drugs, but it was structured with a gap providing no coverage in 2010 between $2,830 and $6,440. Patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) are especially likely to be affected due to high costs of dialysis-related drugs and the importance of adherence for overall health. Researchers from social work, pharmacy, and dietetics interviewed 12 patients with ESRD to learn about strategies and challenges during the coverage gap. Constant comparison generated the following themes: the experience of hitting the gap, management strategies, physical and emotional consequences, and advice for others. Results suggest that patients could benefit from greater involvement with professionals and peers to prepare for and manage their medications during the coverage gap and for support in dealing with emotional consequences and stress related to financial pressures and living with a serious health condition. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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