Mission and Money: Understanding the University

Many academic institutions pursue mission-related activities that are unprofitable and engage in profitable revenue raising activities to finance them. This book presents research on schools’ revenue sources from tuition, donations, research, patents, endowments, and other activities. It considers lobbying, distance education, and the world market, as well as advertising, branding, and reputation. The pursuit of revenue, while essential to achieve the mission of higher learning, is sometimes in conflict with that mission. The tension between mission and money is also highlighted in a chapter on the profitability of intercollegiate athletics.