Performance-based funding policies for postsecondary institutions have been enacted throughout the United States as an answer to reductions in public funding and increased accountability mandates. Institutional effectiveness, as demonstrated through metrics such as graduation and retention rates, dictates the level of funding received. Educational…

In the United States, both education policy and education research tend to conflate remote contexts with rural contexts or fail to define rural at all. Remote is subsumed within the broader conceptualization of rural and so is assumed to be covered by rural-focused research. As a response to the priorities outlined in the National Rural Education…

A primary rationale for public provision of K-12 education and state financing of school spending is that education fosters civic engagement and the development of social capital. However, limited evidence exists on whether and how school spending affects civic engagement. Virtually all studies focus on the impact of educational attainment (as…

This report is a comprehensive analysis of college spending trends and the impact spending has on tuition and student success. American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) analyzed data from more than 1,500 four-year public and private, nonprofit colleges and universities. The data reveal that institutional spending has continued to surge…

Purpose: Using a political economy framework, this paper examines the financing trend, by investigating three systematic spikes occurring between 2004 and 2016. The study aims to provide a useful review of the interaction of politics, financial decisions and educational outcomes. Additionally it provides a useful guide, especially to academics, to…

Amidst increased enrollment, economic recession, and state budget cuts to postsecondary education over the past two decades, two and four-year colleges and universities have employed a multitude of different approaches to managing resource allocation. At the crux of this issue is the internal struggle each institution faces: improving the level of…

For decades, educators and policy makers have decried low graduation rates at US colleges, advocating policies and making investments to improve graduation. We analyze a decade of Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) data for four-year colleges to investigate how much institutions have improved their graduation rates from 2008…

We leverage an obscure set of rules in Texas's school funding formula granting some districts additional revenue as a function of size and sparsity. We use variation from kinks and discontinuities in this formula to ask how districts spend additional discretionary funds, and whether these improve student outcomes. A $1,000 annual increase in…

The Guam Department of Education (GDOE, Department) is a semi-autonomous agency within the Government of Guam(GovGuam) and is primarily funded through the GovGuam General Fund. The GDOE is a single unified school district that serves just under 25,000 students (from Kindergarten to Grade12). There are 26 elementary schools, 8 middle schools, 6…

Rising college prices and student debt, the growth and collapse of online for-profit colleges, and expansions of federal grant, loan, and loan forgiveness policies have increased calls for more accountability in our higher education system. And there is significant consensus among lawmakers that the existing set of quality assurance policies for…

The Guam Department of Education (GDOE, Department) is a semi-autonomous agency within the Government of Guam (GovGuam) and is primarily funded through the GovGuam General Fund. The GDOE is a single unified school district that serves just under 30,000 students (from Kindergarten to Grade 12). There are 26 elementary schools, 8 middle schools, 6…

Institutional graduation rates occupy a prominent place in institutional research and public policy. Graduation rates are used in the College Scorecard, state performance funding initiatives, and potentially affect a significant proportion of public institutions revenues. Despite their widespread use, research suggests that institutional…

This study is the first to empirically examine how school districts allocate resources in response to capital investment revenue from statewide penny sales taxes (called SAVE funds), and whether SAVE funds affect student outputs (i.e., educational achievement). We found evidence that school districts do not use SAVE funds to increase capital…

Objective: This study examines the characteristics, course enrollment patterns, and academic outcomes of students who started their college careers in noncredit courses. Method: Drawing upon a rich dataset that includes transcript and demographic information on both for-credit and noncredit students in multiple institutions, this study explores…

Do increased expenditures lead to improvements in international students' outcomes? As state subsidies for public higher education institutions remain low, the reliance on out-of-state tuition from international students underscores their importance. Because international students often pay such higher tuition fees, it is worth studying how such…