As this and the previous chapter have discussed, public colleges and universities follow GASB standards. These schools have been directed to use the same reporting model as state and local governments. Such schools frequently classify themselves as special purpose governments consisting solely of business-type activities. In that way, they only need to produce fund financial statements as an enterprise fund.In contrast, private not-for-profit colleges and universities adhere to FASB Accounting Standards Codification® requirements and prepare financial statements.U.S. GAAP for public schools comes from GASB while, for private schools, it comes from FASB.Readers of college and university financial statements might want to compare the data presented by various institutions. This information is especially important to potential donors who are attempting to evaluate each school’s efficiency and effectiveness in utilizing the fundingthat it receives.Are decision makers well served by the division between the financial reporting for public colleges and universities and that utilized by private colleges and universities? Are thesetwo types of schools so different that they require two separate sets of generally accepted accounting principles created by two official bodies? Should a single set of U.S. GAAP apply to all schools? Should only one group be in charge of developing U.S. GAAP for colleges and universities?
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