State support for higher education has been volatile, prompting public universities to pursue alternative revenue sources to supplement state support. While dependence on alternative revenue sources has been raising, the relationship between these revenue sources and graduation rates has not been examined in depth. This study used panel data from…

This research explores the suitability of system-based simulation analysis for higher education (HE) policy-planning. A dynamic system model of the Finnish university funding system covering bachelor-level students is presented. The results show that the model captures the nature of the current funding system, which can be considered a zero-sum…

This study assessed needs and outcomes for people with developmental disability (DD) to understand the socioeconomic status of this group prior to implementation of the Accessible Canada Act in June 2019. The 2017 Canadian Survey on Disability (CSD) was used to analyze data for a sample of individuals with self-reported disability. Data related to…

Performance funding policies for higher education allocate appropriations to public institutions based on student outcomes such as degree completions. This study investigates whether a special science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) incentive in 13 state performance funding policies leads to greater undergraduate degree…

Since 1979 more than thirty states have adopted "performance funding" for public institutions of higher education. Under performance funding, a portion of the state appropriations for each institution is determined by the institution's achievement of performance goals on such metrics as retention and graduation. We argue that several…

This article aims to examine how Cuban higher education has implemented and created frameworks for key performance indicators (KPIs) to enhance its higher education accountability and quality. Referring to the past 15 years of available data on the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization's website (2005-2020), this study…

Pay-for-performance has become a state finance policy du jour for public postsecondary institutions. A total of 35 states currently distribute varying amounts of appropriations to colleges and universities based on outcome measures. This study uses a difference-in-differences quasi-experimental technique to assess the impact of performance-based…

Objective: The current paper presents a comparison of university policies and health and academic accommodations offered to undergraduate students following sexual assault (SA) and sports-related concussions (SRC). Procedures and protocols for universities to consider adapting from their SRC policies to their SA policies are detailed.…

Homelessness among U.S. K-12 students has been on the rise for decades, and it shows no signs of slowing down, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to significant unemployment. Joseph Bishop describes findings from a study of student homelessness in California. Interviews with those experiencing homelessness and those who serve…

The federal government currently provides more than $150 billion each year to students and their families in the form of grants, loans, work-study funds, and tax credits to help make college more affordable. This sizable public investment in higher education has indeed made college attendance possible for a larger share of Americans. However,…

After decades of slow growth, the share of young Americans completing college has increased to 48 percent in 2019, from 39 percent 10 years earlier. What accounts for the rise? Are more students clearing a meaningful bar for graduation, or are colleges and universities engaging in credential inflation and lowering their academic standards? This…

Completing a college degree, or failing to, is a major factor in determining whether a person will have an economically stable future. While it might have been possible a few decades ago to graduate from high school, enter the job market, and find a career that enabled one to earn a solid middle-class life, that path to success has been almost…

As police officers have become increasingly common in U.S. public schools, their role in school discipline has often expanded. While there is growing public debate about the consequences of police presence in schools, there is scant evidence of the impact of police on student discipline and academic outcomes. This paper provides the first…

As performance-based funding models have become the new norm for allocating state funds, universities have begun to focus more on meeting and exceeding persistence and graduation metrics. For those universities that have already made substantial gains in these metrics by implementing changes that address large populations of students, attaining…

Community colleges offer an important pathway to the middle class. However, many students fall off the path along the way; almost half of students drop out and only 38% complete a degree within eight years, according to an analysis by Preston Cooper of the American Enterprise Institute. These statistics are even worse for at-risk, minority and…