Dive Brief:
- An Education Advisory Board analysis of 21 colleges and universities that hired consultants for cost-cutting advice has found those schools saving an average of 2% so far, compared to the average of up to 4% projected by the outside advisers.
- The study reports that the average savings may increase to 2.2% when all of the cost-cutting measures have been implemented, compared to the 2.6% base average predicted by the consultants.
- Consultants tend to use the same playbook, coming up with very similar cost-cutting recommendations, one of the report’s authors told Inside Higher Ed.
Dive Insight:
On the plus side, the study didn’t find that any of the colleges studied ended up losing money due to consultant recommendations. Potential savings uncovered by consultants tended to come from procurement and organization redesign. Also, consultants may not understand the complexities or politics involved in the changes they recommend, according to the report. The report has not been made public, and only a portion was released to Inside Higher Ed.