GPO Buying Groups: The Secret Weapon for Small and Mid-Sized Institutions
The financial pressure on small and mid-sized institutions is immense. Just look at what’s happening in Ohio as an example. Wittenberg University in Springfield was recently flagged by the Higher Learning Commission as being in financial distress, meaning it carries more debt than income. In 2023 alone, Wittenberg owed $25 million, and the institution has […]
How GPO Pricing Helps Organizations Cut Costs Without Sacrificing Quality
Higher education institutions face a perfect storm of financial challenges. Tariffs, inflation, funding challenges, and uncertain enrollment income—all of these factors drive up the cost of goods and make budget cuts a reality. Finding a solution that balances financial responsibility with high-quality outcomes is more challenging than ever. Leveraging GPO pricing through cooperative contracts can […]
The Role of Cooperative Purchasing in Addressing Higher Education’s Financial Challenges
Higher education institutions across the United States are facing unprecedented financial pressures. Institutions must navigate shrinking budgets, rising costs, governmental policy changes, and an increasingly volatile economic landscape. In this environment, traditional methods of procurement and cost management are proving insufficient. Institutions must look for more strategic, efficient ways to manage spend, and one proven […]
Education Industry Challenges & the Role of Group Purchasing in Reducing Costs
Political and economic shifts are happening fast these days, and it’s taking a toll. Credit analysts at Moody’s revised its 2025 outlook for the higher education sector in March, lowering the outlook from stable to negative, citing growing financial pressures across institutions nationwide. The warning was clear: colleges and universities are entering a period of […]
Higher Education’s Tariff Crisis: How Cooperative Buying Can Help
When Pender County Schools in North Carolina needed to purchase 2,000 laptops for mandated testing requirements, they encountered something unexpected. Multiple vendors submitted competitive bids but refused to honor their quoted prices without immediate decisions, citing tariff concerns. Ultimately, the school board was forced to approve a higher bid of more than $700,000 to secure […]
How Budget Changes Are Impacting Higher Education Research Funding
Sweeping changes to research funding and federal support are dramatically reshaping the education research funding landscape. Federal sources currently account for 55% of total higher education research funding. Of that, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is the largest contributor. This support has long served as […]
Securing Funding for Research in Higher Education: What Works and What Doesn’t
What a difference a few years (and an election) can make. In FY 2023, U.S. colleges and universities reached a milestone in research and development (R&D) investment. An 11.2% year-over-year increase pushed funding for higher education research to $108.8 billion — the largest since 2003. No more. NIH funding cuts, caps on indirect research costs, […]
How Purchasing Cooperatives Streamline Higher Ed Procurement
New threats to federal funding mechanisms, on top of rising cuts and unstable enrollment, are changing how academic institutions have to operate. Funding caps on critical grants. Research dollars cut. Threats to endowments and other funding. The result is a significant strain on budgets, which is increasingly difficult to overcome and forcing significant challenges across […]
Higher Ed Procurement & Research Funding: Overlooked Strategies to Maximize Your Budget
If you were to consult the magic 8-ball about the future of research funding in higher education, it might say “Outlook uncertain” or “Reply hazy, try again later.” As if the demographic cliff, state funding challenges, and rising operational costs weren’t enough, government funding for research, a vital revenue source for many institutions, is facing […]
How Cooperative Buying Supports Innovation in Higher Ed Research
Federal research funding is facing significant disruption, with proposed policy changes from the current administration threatening to reduce or eliminate support for vital programs. One major move is capping indirect costs from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) at 15%—a move that represents nearly a 50% decrease from the current average for many research institutions. […]
