Education white paper

Alternative software solutions
for cash-strapped educational
institutions
Many of today’s school administrators and decision
makers have to make the most of chronicallyunderfunded programs. Faced with declining financial
support from every level of government, they are forced
to search for alternative ways to stretch their limited
budgets and keep their programs running. Often
overlooked is the fact that significant cost savings can befound by scrutinizing their software budgets.
This paper summarizes the financial burden plaguing
education budgets across the U.S., and presents twocase studies from schools that have chosenalternatives to the industry-leading software brand.

Figure 2 – This chart from CBPP shows that states have increased
tuition massively in recent years.

Deep funding cuts and rising tuition inU.S. education
Amid years of funding shortfalls, educational institutions of
all levels are operating in crisis mode. Whether it’s K-12 or
higher education, schools have little choice but to cut
spending or increase tuition to stem the tide of plummetinggovernment investment. Most often, they have to do both,which means laying off teachers and support staff, cutting
entire programs or courses, and even closing facilities.
Consider the recent findings of the Center on Budget andPolicy Priorities (CBPP), who have published a report onstate funding for higher education in the U.S. over the past
five years. Nationwide, state funding for higher education
has declined year-over-year by an average of 28%. Whilethat average varies greatly state to state (as high as 50.4%,
as low as 3.2%), only two states have increased funding
and 36 have cut as deeply as 20%.

Figure 1 – This chart from CBPP shows that states have reduced
per-student funding deeply in recent years.
iEducation white paper

In the same report, the CBPP provides details on farreaching and significant increases in state tuition costs
over the same time period. By average from 2008-2013,
annual tuition fees have jumped by 27%, or $1,850.
State to state, the average price hike varies from as highas 78.4% to a low of 2.2%.

Case study overview
Name: Allen Brooks
School: San Elijo Middle School
Location: San Marcos, California
Title: Technology instructor and advisor®
®
®
®
Products: Corel PaintShop Pro, Corel VideoStudio Pro

Compounding all that turmoil in higher education is thefact that K-12 enrollment across the U.S. has increased
by 535,000 students from 2008-2013. And K-12budgets are under similar stress. Consider the following
program funding cuts in the U.S. federal FY13 budget:







The best bang for the buck
Allen Brooks is the technology instructor at San Elijo
Middle School in San Marcos, California. He teaches
digital design and graphics, as well as TV media andbroadcast production. In addition to his teaching
duties, Brooks also serves as the school’s technology
advisor. And so he has the unofficial responsibility toensure that the school’s limited software budget isspent to the maximum advantage of its students.

740 M from Title I
644 M from IDEA
406 M from Head Start
126 M from Teacher Quality State Grants
59 M from 21st Century Community Learning Centers58.8 M from Impact Aid
9 M from Rural Education

For his digital design and graphics program, he chose

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan offered harshwords about the impact of the cuts when he testified
before the Senate Appropriations Committee inFebruary. “Education is the last place to be reducing ourinvestment as the nation continues to climb out of therecent recession and to prepare all of its citizens tomeet the challenges created by global competitivenessin the 21st century.”

Are software vendors out of stepwith the challenges facing educational
institutions?
With so much scrambling to keep programs running,teachers and staff working, and students enrolled,educational institutions are rightfully seeking affordable
alternatives to expensive, big-brand software. Adobe
recently announced its plan to shift customers to acloud-based, annual subscription model to license
Creative Suite 6. The new Creative Cloud model meansthat future updates to the suite will only be available tosubscribers, at a regular price of $29 per month foreducation customers.

The following case studies offer a glimpse into thedecision-making process of two schools that havechosen Corel software to teach fundamental skills totheir students.

A collection of packaging designs created with PaintShop Pro by
middle school students in the first year of Allen Brook’s digital design
and graphics program.
ii

Education white paper

Corel PaintShop Pro instead of Adobe® Photoshop®. Andfor his TV media and broadcast production program, hechose Corel VideoStudio Pro instead of Adobe® Premiere®.
“It was a simple decision, and not just because of price,”says Brooks. “And of course, I considered Adobe’s
products. They’re the heavyweight, but feature forfeature, Corel offers the best bang for the buck.”that they can apply on any computer anywhere. When theywalk out of my classes, they’re designers or video producers.”
Students in the technology programs at San ElijoMiddle School learn by doing. “For one of the projects,
they recreate examples of real-life packaging,” explainsBrooks. “And by far, the design program featuring
PaintShop Pro is a true favorite.”

Of course, when you make a choice that goes against an
industry standard, you expect to encounter resistance. “Ihave students who are aware of Adobe,” explains Brooks,“They may have parents who are designers or they haveaccess to that software at home. They’re usually the ones
who express a preference to use Photoshop or Premiere.”“It’s easy to use, and it’s easy to teach, and it’s soaccessible for my students. Before long, they’re getting
their parents to buy them Corel software so they cancreate at home. And that’s the greatest reward for me,
as a teacher,” he continues, “To have a kid excitedly
show me something they’ve created over the weekend,
on their own time, instead of posting on Facebook.”“When that happens, I just give them some time,” says
Brooks. “It never takes very long for them to commenton how easy it is to use Corel’s products.”“Ultimately, choosing Corel was a no-brainer for myprograms,” offers Brooks, in closing. “When you consider
the difference between spending $18,000 or $1,500, I’ve
been able to keep my programs funded and running forseveral years now — and for less than it would have costto buy the industry standard for a single year.”

Teaching the fundamentals“I don’t teach software,” Brooks exclaims. “My number
one goal is for my students to learn fundamental skills

Case study overview
Name: Glenn Goldman
School: New Jersey Institute of Technology
Location: Newark, New Jersey
Title: Director, School of Art + Design®
®
®
Products: CorelDRAW Graphics Suite, Corel Painter ,®
®
Corel PaintShop Pro

A chronically underfunded state school
Meanwhile, at the New Jersey Institute of Technology,
Glenn Goldman serves as Director of the School of Art+ Design. And he, too, is trying to stretch a limited
budget to provide his secondary school students andfaculty with software that helps them learn and teachthe fundamentals of digital art and architecture, as wellas interior and industrial design.
“We simply don’t have the resources to consider
entering into long-term commitments for software
licenses,” says Goldman. “Besides, Corel’s products areaffordable, and in my opinion, they’re often easier touse than the competition.”

A collection of packaging designs created with PaintShop Pro by
middle school students in the second year of Allen Brook’s digital
design and graphics program.
iii

Education white paper

Students at the New Jersey Institute of Technology use
a range of Corel software in their studies, includingCorel Painter, CorelDRAW Graphics Suite, and Corel
PaintShop Pro. “Well, Painter stands alone,” explains
Goldman. “I’ve been using it since 1985, and ‘Wow!’ isthe general response of students when they first try it.”Goldman is used to dealing with resistance from folks
who trumpet ‘industry standards’ and bristles at thenotion that anything less is limiting. “If possible, I will let
students choose which software they want to use. And
without fail, an absolute clear majority eventually choose
Corel’s software simply because of how easy it is to use.”“We’ve saved a lot of money over the years by using
Corel’s software, and the education license program issuch an asset for students — who have their own
chronic budget limitations,” he says in closing. “It’sterrific that Corel offers such an astounding reductionin price so that students can get a take home copy.”

At the end of the first semester of the Graphic Design course at
the New Jersey Institute of Technology’s School of Art + Design,
students use Corel Painter and CorelDRAW to create original
packaging designs.

For more information
Corel’s Education Licensing Program

References
Students in the first semester of the Color and Composition course at
the New Jersey Institute of Technology’s School of Art + Design use
Corel Painter to produce painting re-creation and analysis studies.
They save their Painter work in iterations and then use CorelDRAW toput together the entire composite.

Easier to use and learn“Personally, I find CorelDRAW faster and physicallyeasier to use than Adobe® Illustrator®,” says Goldman.
“Our freshman students spend their first monthcompositing in CorelDRAW, and any doubts they may
have to its efficacy are quickly eliminated.”Corel Corporation
1600 Carling Ave.
Ottawa, ON
Canada K1Z 8R7Corel UK Limited
Sapphire Court
Bell Street
Maidenhead
Berkshire SL6 1BU
United Kingdom

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. (2013). Recent
Deep State Higher Education Cuts May Harm Students
and the Economy for Years to Come.
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3927
McKenna, Laura. The Atlantic. (2013). The Worst Victimsof the Education Sequester: Special-Needs Students andPoor Kids.
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/03/th
e-worst-victims-of-the-education-sequester-specialneeds-students-and-poor-kids/274087/

Corel GmbH
Edisonstraße 685716 UnterschleißheimGermany© 2013 Corel Corporation. All rights reserved.