An International Meeting of the American Accounting Association American Accounting Association 2006 Annual Meeting August 6–9, 2006 Washington, D.C.

Teresa P. Gordon
University of Idaho

Mary Fischer
University of Texas at Tyler

Abstract: Performance measures have long been a topic of interest in higher education although no consensus on the best way to measure performance has been achieved. This paper first examines the extent of services efforts and accomplishment reporting by public and not-for-profit U.S. colleges and universities. We then report on the effectiveness of the communication of this performance information. The extent of disclosure is affected by size, leverage, level of education provided and regional accreditation agency but we find no difference between public and private institutions. However, private institutions rate themselves as more effective communicators of performance information (self-evaluated based on 16 criteria recommended by GASB). The effectiveness of communication is also impacted by the extent of disclosures, level of education provided and accreditation region.

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