Concerns about the rising cost of college and growing student loan debt have intensified in recent years, with 85% of non-enrolled adults citing affordability as a key barrier (Gallup & Lumina Foundation, 2024) and a third of currently enrolled college students agreeing that their "institution charges too much for an undergraduate…

This is the third paper on the topic of outcomes-based funding written by Dennis Jones for Complete College America. The first paper, "Performance Funding: From Idea to Action" (ED535356), proposed a set of design and implementation principles to help states develop and implement their own outcomes-based funding models. The second paper,…

In 1986 Bemidji State University (BSU), located in rural northern Minnesota, began an outreach distance learning program for the preservice education of elementary teachers. This college program delivers junior and senior year education courses to students 100 miles plus from the main campus. Junior and senior year requirements are completed in a…

Bemidji State University and 24 schools in northwestern Minnesota have established a demonstration teacher center. Major goals of the center include: (1) improving the quality of the teaching and learning process; (2) assessing staff development needs and plans; (3) facilitating application of the latest educational research; (4) assisting…