Education budgets are under even more intense pressure in 2026. In fact, more than half of institutions are facing the largest school deficits. Chicago schools have a $730 million deficit. Seattle public schools has a gap of nearly $100 million. The University of Oregon projects a shortfall of up to $65 million in four years based on current state enrollment levels. The University of Minnesota cut $44 million from its budget this year.
These are not just isolated incidents, either. A study by the Chronicle surveyed hundreds of administrators and reported that only 20% of institutional budgets were sufficient to “achieve their mission.”
“There are a lot of expenses that are out there that are increasing and the districts don’t have a lot of control over them,” Michael Griffith, an analyst at the Learning Policy Institute, told Chalkbeat.
And costs continue to rise. In fiscal 2025, operating expenses increased by 3.6%, outpacing inflation and adding further pressure to already-tight institutional margins. That environment puts procurement teams in a difficult position. They are expected to control costs, maintain compliance, support dozens of campus stakeholders, and move purchases through the system quickly, often without fewer resources.
That is one reason more institutions are asking: what is a purchasing cooperative, and where does it fit into our procurement strategy?
A Purchasing Cooperative Extends the Reach of Your Procurement Team
Procurement departments are responsible for far more than issuing purchase orders. They may be managing strategic sourcing, contract negotiations, supplier performance, spend analysis, risk, sustainability initiatives, supplier diversity, technology integrations, and stakeholder requests across the institution.
A purchasing coop can help by removing some of the repetitive work associated with sourcing commonly purchased goods and services. Instead of developing specifications, issuing a new solicitation, reviewing proposals, negotiating terms, and documenting an award for every category, procurement can evaluate an existing competitively solicited agreement. This not only saves the time and effort of executing a full RFP but also saves resources and budget.
The institution retains control over purchasing decisions and remains responsible for ensuring that the agreement is appropriate for its requirements, but procurement teams can significantly reduce the administrative burden and gain capacity to focus on the areas that will have the greatest impact.
The Real Value Is More Than Cost Savings
Aggregated demand provides leverage, which translates into volume discounts and greater purchasing power. However, focusing only on price misses much of the potential value.
A purchasing coop can also help institutions:
- Reduce the sourcing workload.
- Shorten procurement timelines.
- Access established contract terms.
- Expand the range of sourcing options.
That can be particularly important for smaller institutions. A single institution may not generate enough spend in a category to command the same attention or negotiating leverage as a much larger purchasing group. At the same time, larger institutions may use cooperative agreements selectively to reduce administrative work and also find cost reductions.
Five Reasons Institutions Should Consider Joining a Purchasing Coop
What is a purchasing cooperative and how can it improve your procurement process? Here are five ways academic institutions see benefits from becoming a coop member.
1. Reclaim Staff Capacity
Every solicitation requires time from procurement professionals and internal stakeholders. Where an appropriate competitively solicited agreement already exists, recreating that process may not be the best use of limited staff resources, strategic projects, and collaboration with campus departments.
2. Increase Purchasing Leverage
A cooperative can aggregate purchasing demand across many participating institutions. In the case of E&I Cooperative Services, for example, E&I combines demand from more than 6,500 academic institutions to achieve significant savings and contracts tailored for the education sector.
3. Accelerate Purchasing and Reduce Cycle Time
Institution-specific solicitations can take weeks or months, depending on complexity, internal approvals, and evaluation requirements. When a suitable agreement already exists, procurement may be able to move from identified need to purchase more quickly.
That can matter for technology refreshes, facilities needs, equipment replacement, operational disruptions, and other situations where long sourcing cycles can delay campus priorities. Internal approvals and due diligence still apply, but much of the external solicitation process has already been completed.
4. Support More Consistent Buying
Decentralized institutions often struggle with fragmented purchasing. Multiple departments may buy similar products from different suppliers, negotiate separate terms, or use different purchasing channels. Over time, that fragmentation can reduce spend visibility and make supplier management more difficult.
Cooperative agreements can support greater standardization by giving departments access to established contracts and preferred purchasing channels. That, in turn, can make it easier for procurement to analyze spend, monitor contract utilization, and identify off-contract purchasing.
5. Procurement Gains More Sourcing Options
Joining a cooperative does not mean every purchase needs to move through a cooperative contract. An institution can still conduct its own RFP when specialized requirements, strategic importance, or market conditions justify a customized sourcing process.
The advantage is flexibility. Procurement teams gain another sourcing path they can compare against institution-specific solicitations and other authorized methods. That broader toolkit can help teams match the procurement approach to the complexity and importance of each category.
See also: Business Owners: Key Considerations for Ai Deployment
About E&I Cooperative Services
E&I Cooperative Services is the only member-owned, nonprofit cooperative exclusively serving the education sector. E&I serves 6,500 academic institutions and provides access to 260+ competitively solicited cooperative contracts. There is no cost to become a member and no minimum purchasing obligation.
Explore membership benefits today and learn more about how you can save time and money in your institution’s procurement process.