College IT Spending Expected To Rise

A study by Market Data Retrieval predicts a 35 percent increase in spending on information technology by colleges and universities this academic year. The study report estimates spending of more than $3 billion on hardware and $1.6 billion each on software and outside services. The report did not include salaries. The average institutional IT budget is $1.4 million, with the smallest colleges averaging $600,000 and the largest $11.5 million. The report did not indicate whether spending would be to start new projects, replace outdated equipment, or meet increased vendor costs.

Chronicle of Higher Education, 27 February 2006 (sub. req’d)