Institutional researchers are increasingly being asked to help study how effectively colleges and universities are managing financial resources. But cost studies are a relatively new responsibility for many institutionalresearch offices, and it can be daunting for those with little financial training to know where to begin. This volume presents both the conceptual and practical information that will give researchers solid grounding in selecting the best approach to cost analysis. The authors offer a broad overview of cost studies covering basic issues and beyond, from a review of definitions of expEnditure categories and rules of financial reporting to a discussion of a recent congressionally mandated study of higher education costs. They describe practical strategies for building a consistent and reliable financial database on campus and for making inter-institutional comparisons of data. They also provide specific advice on understanding anddefining the data elements in a good cost study, identifying the types of cost data needed for academic and administrative planning, and more. This is the 106th issue of the quarterly journal New Directions for Institutional Research.