Cooperative Purchasing for Colleges: How Group Buying Platforms Reduce Costs
In the past year, higher education procurement has gotten even more difficult. Deloitte’s 2025 Higher Education Trends report put it this way: “The increasing frequency of budget gaps is acting as a forcing function, compelling higher education institutions to move into the uncomfortable territory of entering into agreements to share resources to find scale.“ That […]
The Essential Guide to MRO Procurement and Facilities Supply Management for Higher Education
Colleges and universities have faced difficult choices in recent years, including layoffs, program restructuring, and budgetary cutbacks that have changed operations. Despite these challenges, many institutions have maintained MRO procurement. While routine maintenance has generally continued, replacements and renewals of facilities are now facing a significant backlog, and funding isn’t keeping up. The 2025 State […]
Controlling Facility Supply Costs: How to Reduce MRO Spend in Higher Education
It’s become a nearly universal mandate across higher education: reduce spending wherever possible. This has forced educational institutions to make hard decisions to meet today’s financial challenges, and it impacts just about every area, including facility supplies and MRO spend. Many campuses are delaying maintenance (deferred maintenance) or putting off infrastructure investments. For example, a […]
MRO Solutions That Work: Improving MRO Management on Campus
Capital projects and new construction are often what capture the most headlines, but it’s MRO that keeps things running smoothly. Each year you make a significant investment, efficient MRO management can make a big difference. Take energy, for example. Campuses in the U.S. spend more than $6 billion each year on energy. Much of that […]
MRO Sourcing Best Practices: Strategic MRO Purchasing for Campus Facilities
HVAC filters, replacement light bulbs and plumbing parts, jan/san supplies, and much more. Every campus has categories of purchases that go unnoticed by students and faculty until something doesn’t work right or fails altogether. Yet, MRO is often overlooked when it comes to procurement. With today’s tight budgets, that can no longer be the case. […]
Managing Repair Parts and Maintenance Supplies: A Facilities Procurement Strategy
Across the country, more than a third of university buildings are over 50 years old. With budget constraints, many higher education institutions have put off maintenance with limited dollars, which is causing downstream problems and emergency spending. Nationally, the total maintenance backlog across schools and campuses is a staggering $112 billion. Unplanned expenses create budget […]
E&I Cooperative Services Announces 2nd Year of EdPro NextGen Leadership Program for Education Procurement Executives
November 17, 2025 | Prestigious Nine-Month Program to Equip Procurement Professionals with Executive Leadership Skills, Culminating in a Dual Certificate from E&I and eCornell
E&I Celebrates Inaugural EdPro NextGen Leadership Graduates
November 14, 2025 | Summit marks culmination of nine-month leadership development journey for nearly 100 education procurement professionals
E&I Elects New Board Members, Recognizes Member Excellence
November 12, 2025 | Annual Stockholders Meeting highlights the Cooperative’s founding principles and a renewed call for cooperative purchasing to contain education costs.
7 Economic Benefit Model™ Strategies That Maximize Procurement Cost Savings
Budget pressures in education have never been greater. With enrollment declines, frozen budgets, and increasing compliance demands, procurement teams are expected to deliver more value with fewer resources. Every dollar matters, and every sourcing decision carries strategic weight. That’s where the E&I Economic Benefit Model™ (EBM) comes in. Built specifically for education, this model helps […]