Despite the recent, unprecedented growth of school-based health centers and the related increased support from state government, the future of school-based health centers is uncertain. Since they can no longer rely on federal support, private insurance, or other commercial sources, each state must develop its own approach to supporting the centers. A critical precondition for creating a financial strategy is for each state to address the following questions: (1) What is a school-based health center? (2) Whom should the school-based health center serve if the center is to secure public funding? (3) What specific services must be provided? (4) How will these services be paid for and who will receive payment? This paper discusses approaches to answering these questions. Topics include difficulties related to financing school-based health centers through third-party payments, recent events which have had a major impact, the essential step of defining a school-based health center, and alternative reimbursement models as funding strategies. Six figures and three tables present data and statistical analysis. An appendix presents 1994 state guidelines for school-based health centers. Contains 37 references. (RB)