Attempts to provide useful data concerning higher education costs by instruction level. Analyzes case study results to determine the ratios between unit costs of providing instruction at lower-division, upper-division, and graduate levels. Considerable care must be exercised in developing and using cost ratios in funding or allocation formulas.…

Explores the consequences of adopting formula-based systems of resource allocation and questions assumptions underpinning development of such systems. Findings, based on a case study of a British university that adopted a decentralized system in the late 1980s, revealed changes in micropolitical activities and organizational culture. (33…

New Zealand's special funding system allows state schools a greater level of independence in managing their property compared to most other countries. Schools receive a fixed budget as an entitlement from the three "pots" of the educational property funding structure. The government's unique use of accrual accounting together with a new…

In the "Sydney Morning Herald" of 23 March 2005, Ross Gittins argued that the funding arrangements for private schools positively encourage parents to move their children from the state system. The then Federal Minister for Education, Dr Brendan Nelson, in a letter to the "Herald" of 25-27 March, responded by saying that 68% of…

In recent years, policy makers and educators in the U.S. have begun to show considerable interest in the concept of weighted student funding as a means of financing primary and secondary schools. Weighted student funding (WSF) has three main elements. Money follows students on a per student basis to the schools they attend, the per student amount…

As funding for special education increases, it becomes important for educational policy-makers to understand the effects caused by the distribution of monies. This paper focuses on key programmatic and management issues in the funding of special education. Four main topics are discussed: (1) the relationship between special education programs and…

This report sets out some possible goals for a California school finance system that could better support student performance. It also describes the key forces that will shape any debate about school finance reform in California and examines those in the context of some important aspects of an effective finance system. In the process, the report…

This article brings attention to decision-making in the world of state financing for higher education. It reflects on the origin of this field and the system builders in the 1960s and 1970s, who needed to figure out rational ways to both justify funding requests to the state and distribute resources among institutions. The article highlights one…

Under President Bush's proposed fiscal 2006 budget, the federal Head Start program would get a $45 million increase in funding. That money, however, would go for a project involving only a handful of states, not to increase the main program educating preschoolers. The proposed increase to Head Start's fiscal 2005 budget of $6.84 billion would go…

California's school finance system is long overdue for reform. The authors propose a new system that is more rational, more equitable, and, they believe, politically feasible. At its core, their proposal aims to link district revenue to student needs and regional costs while ensuring that all districts are held harmless at current funding levels.…

In the UK, education is the third largest area of government spending (of which school spending has the largest share). Since 2000, school expenditure has increased by about 40 per cent in real terms for both primary and secondary schools (see Figure 1). The question as to whether such investment is worthwhile is of central importance. The…

More than two years ago, the Coordinating Board directed its University Formula Advisory Committee to renew efforts to conduct a cost study to validate the relative weights contained in the matrix. This report provides a summary of the results of the study. The methodology was developed and presented to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating…

Since contemporary school finance litigation began in the 1960s, almost every state has experienced school finance litigation or the threat of litigation. To date, 45 states have encountered lawsuits challenging their funding of public schools. Delaware, Hawaii, Mississippi, Nevada, and Utah are the five states that have had no school funding…

This guide describes the principles that underpin the allocation of funding to institutions of higher education in England by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and explains the components of an institutions grant. It is intended both for those working in higher education and for those who want to understand funding methods.…

This report was produced in response to Rider 49 of the 2001 General Appropriations Act, which directed the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to study the effects of the funding formula on institutions of higher education with fewer than 10,000 students and determine the adequacy of the funding formula for these institutions in comparison…