Editor's note:Â The statistics about numbers of employees and budget spending used in the study came from figures reported by the universities themselves each year to the U.S. Department of Education.
The Goldwater Institute released a new report today blaming the rising cost of college on "administrative bloat."
Arizona's public universities strongly disagreed with the report, saying they are more efficient than ever.
That may be true in recent years, but from 1993 through 2007, universities increased spending on administration much faster than spending on instruction, research and service, Goldwater fellow Jay Greene said.
One would expect universities with more students paying higher tuition to see administrative costs per student decrease over time, Greene said, but the opposite has happened.
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The conservative Goldwater Institute's report documents a rapid increase in spending on non-educator jobs compared with teaching and research jobs. There are 7.7 full-time administrators for every 100 college students at leading American universities, the report says.
University of Arizona
The UA employed 13.3 administrators per 100 students in 2007, an increase of 45.8 percent from the 1993 level. During the same time, it employed only 3.1 percent more instructors, researchers and service providers, according to the Goldwater report.
UA spokeswoman Jennifer Fitzenberger questioned the way in which Goldwater counted administrators, because it included among them other professional workers, including academic advisers.
The UA's own figures for administrators show around 0.37 per 100 students consistently from 2000 to 2010, a period in which enrollment grew 18 percent and research spending grew 58 percent, she said.
During the recession and state budget cuts, the UA protected instruction and research jobs while cutting 600 other jobs, Fitzenberger said.
Greene said that shows the universities can cut fat when they need to without hurting the quality of education.
Northern Arizona university
Northern Arizona University employed 4.6 administrators per 100 students in 2007, up 36.5 percent from 1993, according to the Goldwater report. Employment in academic areas was up by 15.8 percent in that time, the report says.
NAU spokesman Tom Bauer said requirements in technology and student services changed greatly from 1993 through 2007.
NAU's distance-learning programs existed in 1993, but they've grown more than 130 percent since then, he said.
During the past 18 months, NAU has cut 200 jobs and has consolidated administrative jobs while protecting academic jobs, he said. At the same time, NAU's enrollment is up by 2,000 students.
"We're proud of our efficiency; we think we've done a good job," Bauer said. "Taxpayers get a pretty good bang for their buck when it comes to efficiency at NAU."
Arizona State university
The Goldwater report says ASU employed 6.3 administrators per 100 students in 2007, an increase of 94 percent from 1993 - and the biggest increase among the 168 universities examined in the report. Meanwhile, there was a decrease of 2.4 percent in the employment of instructors, researchers and service providers.
Leaders at ASU called the Goldwater report "seriously flawed at all levels" and "disingenuous" because it lumps academic-support jobs together with administration jobs, among other reasons. Arizona State was never contacted by the Goldwater research team to verify information or answer questions, spokeswoman Sharon Keeler said.
"ASU is, in fact, one of the most efficient public research universities in the nation," she said in an e-mailed statement. "It produces graduates at a cost that is 14 percent less than the average spending per degree at all public research universities and 30 percent less than that of its peers."
Contact reporter Becky Pallack at bpallack@azstarnet.com or 807-8012.
