Student success and graduation rates are a continuing challenge for higher education institutions. A growing number of states connect funding to learning outcomes such as student progression, retention, and graduation rates (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012; Complete College America, 2011; Diamond, 2012). Student attrition and graduation rates measure the efficiency with which students complete college and are a good measure of how well students are persisting towards a degree (College Board, Baum & Ma, 2007).The distribution of resources, whether for instruction, student services, academic support, or otherwise, may provide useful information to align budgets and resource allocation for expenditures to achieve institutional goals, including improved graduation rates. Decreases in the levels of state and federal funding have made a pay for performance model a concern for all postsecondary institutions (Archibald & Feldman, 2007; Burke & Minassians, 2001; Cragg, 2009; Klien, 2006; Manning, 2008; Reville, 2006; Shin, 2010).This study, based on Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System finance and graduation rate data, examined the influence of institutional expenditures on threeyear graduation rates at 300 public community colleges, primarily certificate and diploma granting institutions, in the southeastern region of the United States. This quantitative research design utilized multiple regression as the statistical technique to explore the relationship. The research questions examined the relationship between institutional expenditures and graduation rate. A significant relationship was found between instruction and graduation rate and academic support and graduation rate. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]