Research Reports from the Department of Operations
Document Type
Dissertation
Publication Date
8-1-1973
Abstract
This report presents the results of an initial research effort in the development of a national planning model for higher education. The design of the prototype model discussed in this report is based on existing or derivable (derived from basic data) institutional and student data and is designed to permit prototype planning studies to examine the impact of alternative federal programs on the accessibility of students to higher education, and to a lesser extent on the institutional viability (the ability to survive with a given level of funding). The model has assisted in identifying high payoff areas for future research on a comprehensive national planning model, and additional data requirements of such a model. This dissertation addresses itself to the analytic modeling methods of evaluating alternative national educational programs, specifically those related to the accessibility of higher education. The contents of this report describe the needs, the design, and data requirements for the basic prototype model which simulates the impact of federal, state, and private funding programs by using differential dynamic programming to construct a five-year operating plan for several classes of institutions. The institutional supply of spaces for students is identified by these operating plans for each of the classes of institutions; and the interaction of the institutional supply with the student demand (generated in a stochastic choice section of the model) produces calculations of students enrolled, empty spaces, unsatisfied demand, financial conditions, and faculty levels of each group of institutions. A computational example of policy analysis using the prototype model is included. The report concludes with a discussion of the research necessary to transform the prototype model into a fully developed analytic tool for federal educational policy analysis.
Keywords
Operations research, Educational planning, Higher education and state, Educational evaluation
Publication Title
Dissertation/Technical Memorandums from the Department of Operations, School of Management, Case Western Reserve University
Issue
Technical memorandum no. 306 ; Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
Rights
This work is in the public domain and may be freely downloaded for personal or academic use
Recommended Citation
Huckfeldt, Vaughn E., "A National Planning Model for Higher Education" (1973). Research Reports from the Department of Operations. 330.
https://commons.case.edu/wsom-ops-reports/330