Objective/Research Question: Many localities have implemented promise programs, which cover tuition for students to attend college based on residency criteria. These "free college" programs have been shown to increase student enrollment, creating the need for additional institutional resources to support student graduation. We analyzed…

This publication includes tables with data on public elementary and secondary education revenues and expenditures at the local education agency (LEA) or school district level for fiscal year (FY) 2023. Specifically, the tables include finance data on the following topics: (1) Current expenditure totals and current expenditure per pupil amounts by…

This First Look report presents data on public elementary and secondary education revenues and expenditures at the local education agency (LEA) or school district level for fiscal year (FY) 2022. Specifically, this report includes the following types of school district finance data: (1) revenue, current expenditure, and capital outlay expenditure…

This paper delves into the effects of public investment on primary school enrollment in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) across three decades, from 1990 to 2020. Autoregressive distributed lag models are employed to evaluate their long-term relationship for the whole sample and four distinct sub-samples while also probing the potential…

Amidst chronic disparities in per-student resources, how best to construct funding formulas to equitably fund colleges and universities is an enduring policy concern. This brief focuses on a historically overlooked financial mechanism, categorical funding, to examine its role in funding (in)equity. Leveraging illustrative data from four…

This First Look report introduces new data for national and state-level public elementary and secondary revenues and expenditures for fiscal year (FY) 2022. Specifically, this report includes the following school finance data: (1) revenue and expenditure totals; (2) revenues by source; (3) expenditures by function, subfunction, and object; (4)…

"Leading Thoughtful Conversations about School-by-School Spending Data" is a product of a federally-funded study to support the US Department of Education and the field more broadly to understand what data visualizations work to fuel thoughtful conversation among district and school leaders on financial strategy and management. This…

Between 1999 and 2018, 210 shootings have occurred on public school campuses in the United States. The increased need for security and student support may crowd out instructional resources post-shooting. Shootings may also cause students, especially those from socioeconomically advantaged backgrounds, to move away, leading to declines in…

To investigate the relationship between Chinese university funding and academic output, we collected data on the scale and the structure of funding and academic output of 36 World-Class universities under construction in China during 2013-21 and 2014-22. Furthermore, we empirically analyzed the effects of funding scale and structure on academic…

I examine whether the impact of the Great Recession on school district spending, the allocation of resources, and student achievement varied depending on the strength of state's teachers' unions. Employing a diff-in-diff-in-diff identification strategy, I find that school districts in states with strong teachers' unions experienced significantly…

To help the nation respond to the pandemic, Congress injected about $4.6 trillion into the U.S. economy through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and subsequent legislation. Of this amount, over $75 billion was directed to institutions of higher education through the Higher Education Emergency Relief (HEER) Fund,…

The annual budgeting process is a valuable opportunity for districts to systematically examine both resource use and programming. They can then use the findings to optimize resource use and improve program efficacy in ways that will lead to increased student achievement. Bo Yan and Thomas Aberli discuss three root causes for districts' inability…

Congress passed three coronavirus relief acts to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus, including $189.5 billion for Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds intended to provide vital support to States, local educational agencies, and schools. This review was performed to determine whether the Yukon-Koyukuk…

Congress passed three coronavirus relief acts to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus, including $189.5 billion for Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds intended to provide vital support to States, local educational agencies, and schools. This review was performed to determine whether Lower Kuskokwim…

How progressive is school spending when spending is measured at the school-level, instead of the district-level? We use the first dataset on school-level spending across schools throughout the United States to ask to what extent progressivity patterns previously examined across districts are amplified, nullified, or reversed, upon disaggregation…