These technical appendixes accompany the study, "Funding California Schools When Budgets Fall Short." The study explores how the Great Recession impacted funding for California's K-12 system, how prepared districts are for potential funding cuts, and what policy choices could forge a more financially resilient system. Using data on…

The State of Youth Employment is the second segment of a research series focused on understanding the experiences, assets, and conditions that shape young people's career development. Finding a Way Forward--a 2020 exploratory study based on interviews with young people across the country--yielded several findings about how young people experience…

This 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) 2021. Specifically, this report includes the following types of school district finance data: (1) revenue, current expenditure, and capital outlay expenditure totals; (2)…

Neoliberal capitalism has faced severe criticism both in principle and in practice since the Lehman Shock in 2008. The purpose of the paper is to identify and explain how the current mode of neoliberal capitalism redefines and reshapes the societal roles of the university sector in neoliberal capitalist societies, notably the UK and the US in the…

The book analyses and evaluates several key community college reform programs that emerged after the Recession of 2008 and as a result of major initiatives in California, New York, Tennessee, Florida, Connecticut and Wisconsin. Because of the economic downturn in the early 21st Century, an already eroding financial base for public higher education…

The Chinese economy demonstrated remarkable resilience in 2022, providing certainty and vitality to a world facing economic challenges and geopolitical tensions. China's total foreign trade reached 39.1 trillion yuan in 2021, driving momentum for business Chinese language education. With China's economic growth and increasing international…

When state budgets are tight, Pell Grants can indirectly give states more financial flexibility to support the success of innovative state and local ideas. Conversely, cuts to Pell, or the failure to maintain current provisions such as tying the value of it to inflation, can have lasting negative impacts on the success of state postsecondary…

We estimate the impact of school finance reform on adequate and equitable district spending, school resources and student achievement in Pennsylvania. From the 2008-09 to the 2010-11 school years, amid the Great Recession, Pennsylvania's "Act 61" increased aid to school districts spending below state-determined adequacy targets…

This report analyzes data from 2001-2017 to examine public four-year universities' spending on financial aid dollars--specifically between non-need-based and need-based aid. Our researcher found that these universities have spent nearly $32 billion of their own financial aid dollars on students who lack financial need, according to an analysis New…

In recent years, there has been an increasing focus on support for students transitioning into the workplace by universities, policymakers and students themselves. However, the students currently at university will be graduating into a complex environment. The COVID-19 pandemic, as well as having significant health impacts, has radically affected…

The COVID-19 pandemic has decimated the United States economy and left a record number of individuals unemployed. In slightly under five months, more than 54 million people applied for unemployment for the first time, while the economy contracted by 33 percent, the largest dip in history. While the impact will likely be short-term for some career…

Drawing on a review of international higher education (IHE) policies, priorities, and literature from the USA, Canada, Australia, and the UK over the course of a 16-year period (2000-2016), this article identifies a strong scholarly and policy preoccupation with the urgency of the global knowledge economy and cognate discourses of 'Asia Pacific…

COVID-19 has accelerated changes that were already underway in the American economy, such as the increasing displacement of workers by automation, the exponential evolution of industries due to technical advancements (the Fourth Industrial Revolution), and a widening skills gap and attainment deficit in the American workforce. As a result, adult…

By 1989, fascism had long been defeated in Europe, and reforms in the Soviet Union appeared to signify the collapse of communist ideology, prompting Francis Fukuyama to famously declare the 'end of history'. Since then, neoliberalism has been rolled out globally. This paper argues that, with regard to higher education, Fukuyama's claim that the…

The Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) program is the largest workforce program in the United States, providing employment services to people with disabilities to help them retain or enter competitive integrated employment commensurate with their abilities and capabilities. During the pandemic, state VR services were significantly affected and in some…