Michigan's K-12 education system has arguably never truly supported all students to reach their full potential and prepare them for post-secondary opportunities and success. Instead, Michigan's education system has served as an engine of inequality when it should be providing opportunities for all kids to learn. Now is a critical time to address…

This brief communicates findings from Phase 1 of "State Responses to COVID-19 -- Implications for Outcomes-Based Funding and Promise Programs," a 50-state policy scan to determine how Promise Program policies are shifting in response to COVID-19 related budget fluctuations. Conducted between August and December of 2020, this 50-state…

The State Higher Education Finance (SHEF) report is produced annually by the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO) to broaden understanding of the context and consequences of public policy decisions in each state that contribute to public higher education funding levels and funding distributions across states and…

After five decades advocating for school finance reform, Education Law Center (ELC) sees the urgent need to deepen understanding of how differing strategies--from litigation to research to grassroots organizing to communicating with the public--can combine to achieve successful school funding reform in the states. In "From Courthouse to…

Thanks to quick actions on the part of federal, state and local leaders, North Carolina's public schools have been able to develop incredible innovations to meet the needs of children and families during COVID-19. As the transition from COVID relief to COVID recovery begins, the Public School Forum of NC recommends several actions that will…

In 2020, AUCD and the Think College National Coordinating Center (NCC) conducted a national survey that examined how individual DD Councils were supporting postsecondary education for students with IDD at the state level. As this brief explains, DD Councils in many states deliver diverse forms of support, including direct funding for programs,…

To understand the use of early care and education (ECE) programs in New Jersey, the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) conducted a representative survey of parents of children under age 5 (not yet in kindergarten) about their use of (non-parental) child care. The survey was conducted between May 25th and June 13rd, 2022, with…

This study estimates the effect of state appropriations on the graduation rates of freshman cohorts by race/ethnicity. Data were obtained for public four-year institutions (n = 415) representing six freshman cohorts between 2007 and 2012. Hybrid regression models indicated that a ten percent increase in appropriations would yield a percentage…

In Texas, public-funded pre-kindergarten is important because it provides the most vulnerable children with the opportunity to develop school readiness, so they can learn core competencies in kindergarten relevant to academic readiness for first grade. The Texas Legislature was back in session in spring 2019 and, not surprisingly, a bill was filed…

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…

The Commonwealth of Virginia provides more than $220 million annually to fund the Commonwealth Award and Virginia Guaranteed Assistance Program (VGAP). These two need-based financial aid programs address affordability and access for in-state undergraduates attending public institutions. As higher education costs continue to increase and the…

The California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office and the Board of Governors are pleased to release the "2021-22 Five-Year Capital Outlay Plan for the California Community Colleges." To support community college districts grow and improve their educational facilities, the Facilities Planning Unit of the California Community Colleges…

This report evaluates the condition of public school funding in the states preceding the onset of the pandemic in early 2020. It draws upon data from 2018, the most recent year available. This analysis demonstrates the alarming condition of school funding in most states, leaving school districts, especially those segregated by poverty,…

In the decade following the Great Recession, students across the U.S. lost nearly $600 billion from the states' disinvestment in their public schools. Data from 2008-2018 show that, if states had simply maintained their fiscal effort in PK-12 education at pre-Recession levels, public schools would have had over half a trillion dollars more in…

The annual community college tuition and fees report provides information about tuition and fees charged at each of Iowa's 15 community colleges. This report also provides trends in tuition and fees among Iowa's community colleges, sources of general operating revenue, and comparisons among states and institutions. For fiscal year (FY) 2021,…