The fiscal 2026 federal budget proposal eliminates some $7 billion in funding for K–12 schools. While the budget hasn’t been finalized, it could be devastating for school districts that already face deficits. For example, nearly 80% of Texas school districts report shortfalls. The same goes for more than 70% of Minneapolis/St. Paul school districts, and the story repeats across the country.
The challenges in higher education are just as dire if not more so. Threats to federal funding and state funding are leading to continued layoffs.
Procurement teams are shifting priorities rapidly.
More than just saving a few dollars or doing more with less, national procurement professionals are becoming more strategic rather than transactional and playing an important role in helping overcome budget issues.
Cooperative purchasing programs are also helping, and adoption is increasing. These programs offer access to competitively solicited agreements that can produce significant savings while streamlining procurement. Maximizing education cooperative purchasing programs, however, takes more than just opting in to contracts.
For national procurement professionals managing large or multi-campus institutions, cooperative agreements create several strategic advantages:
Cooperative purchasing creates a foundation for smarter, more scalable procurement.
Transactional procurement is reactive and fragmented. It’s focused on placing orders, chasing approvals, and resolving issues after the fact. It often results in inconsistent pricing, uncontrolled vendor growth, and missed opportunities.
Strategic procurement is different. Cooperative agreements can help:
When integrated into a broader procurement strategy, cooperative purchasing programs play an increasingly important role.
Analyzing spend data can yield big insights to uncover patterns, reduce waste, and make better purchasing decisions.
For example, E&I Cooperative Services offers its members no-cost Strategic Spend Assessments to transform cooperative purchasing into a true force multiplier. These assessments help procurement teams:
A Strategic Spend Assessment might show multiple departments are purchasing the same products from different supplier at different prices or that certain suppliers aren’t under contract at all. By bringing that spend into a cooperative agreement, institutions can streamline purchasing and reduce costs.
These insights also support broader strategic goals like sustainability, supplier diversity, and budget forecasting.
To fully realize the benefits of cooperative purchasing programs, national procurement leaders can implement a few strategies:
Avoid duplicate efforts and strengthen negotiating power by standardizing cooperative contracts wherever possible. Offering punch-out catalogs in your procurement platform to approved suppliers at contract rates, for example, can cut down on maverick spending.
Involving faculty, administrators, and department leads builds support and increases adoption. Take the time to explain your goals and the impact strategic procurement can make in their budgets.
Before entering into any new agreement or renewal cycle, compare against cooperative contracts as a baseline. You may find savings that make it worthwhile to switch to a new supplier or use cooperative agreements as leverage to get better rates.
Track Contract Utilization
Savings only result if contract rates are used. You should regularly monitor which contracts are used, by whom, and how effectively.
Look for opportunities to consolidate or expand usage at every step to maximize savings.
Rather than partnering with a cooperative that offers general business contracts, agreements designed specifically for educational institutions will align better with your needs. E&I Cooperative Services is the nation’s only member-owned nonprofit sourcing cooperative that focuses exclusively on the education sector. This results in contracts customized to the unique needs of education.
National procurement professionals are balancing cost control, compliance, and institutional mission. By shifting from transactional tasks to strategic oversight, procurement teams can drive real impact: creating savings, improving performance, and aligning sourcing with broader goals.
E&I Cooperative Services offers competitively solicited cooperative purchasing programs and tools like Strategic Spend Assessments to help you reduce your costs and drive greater value across your institution. Search hundreds of cooperative contracts or connect with one of our procurement experts to discuss strategies for procurement excellence.
