Review of US medical school finances, 1996-1997.

Based on data from the Annual Medical School Questionnaire of the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, to which 100% of schools responded, the revenues that supported the programs and activities of the 125 accredited medical schools in the United States totaled $34897 million in 1996-1997. A large proportion (78.9%) of these revenues was derived from 3 sources: practice plans, grants and contracts, and hospital support. Both public and private medical schools, in aggregate, have continued to experience growth throughout the last decade but at a progressively slower rate, primarily because of a slowing in the growth of practice plan revenues. Federal revenues supporting research in public and private medical schools since 1992-1993 have grown at annualized, constant-dollar rates of 5.6% and 4%, respectively. Growth in state and local appropriations to public medical schools has tended to lag behind inflation. Growth in reported revenues from endowments that are used to support programs at private medical schools is on the rise. The aggregate numbers mask considerable variation among schools with regard to changes in financing. A small, but appreciable, number of schools have witnessed a constant-dollar decline in their total practice plan revenues since 1992-1993. The financial data reviewed in this report demonstrate the continued dependence of medical schools on faculty-generated sources of revenue and confirm the perception that medical schools, as a group, are experiencing constraints on the growth of their enterprises.

Review of US medical school finances, 1995-1996.

For the 1995-1996 fiscal year, all 125 accredited US medical schools responded to the annual medical school questionnaire of the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, part I-A. Using data from the financial portion of the questionnaire, we identify patterns of financing medical education during the past 3 years and the practice plan arrangements adopted by medical schools, including their organizational and legal structures. This financial review details differences in how public and private medical schools are being funded and funding changes during the past 3 years. The reported data show that revenues supporting medical school programs and activities totaled more than $31 billion in 1995-1996, an increase of 5.4% in inflation-adjusted dollars during the previous year. Compared with the previous year, revenues, in current and constant dollars, increased in almost every category in 1995-1996.

Medical school financing 1991-1992: comparing seven different types of schools.

Medical schools are often thought of as relatively homogeneous entities with similar financial and structural characteristics. In fact, they are of several types. For this report, the authors group the 126 accredited U.S. medical schools that share at least one key characteristic (e.g., being community-based) into seven groups, provide an analysis of the differences in revenue patterns for the groups, examine intragroup differences, and present detailed information about the student financial aid that all schools provide. The data used in this analysis were derived from the schools' responses to the Part 1A and the Part 1B questionnaires of the Liaison Committee on Medical Education for the academic year 1991-92. The results of the analysis indicate that there were substantial differences in the financial structures both within and between the groups studied. The differences suggest that generalizations regarding how medical schools will be affected by impending changes in health care reform are likely to be tenuous at best.