This paper designs a new equalization-aid formula based on fiscal gaps of local communities. When states are in transition to a new local aid formula, the issue of whether and how to hold existing aid harmless poses a challenge. The authors show that some previous studies and the formulas derived from them give differential weights to existing and…

This document presents statistics about higher education in Maryland for 2018. The tables in this document are presented according to the following categories: (1) Students; (2) Retention and Graduation; (3) Degrees; (4) Faculty; (5) Revenues and Expenditures; (6) Tuition and Fees; (7) Financial Aid; and (8) Private Career Schools. [For…

The 2016 Nebraska Higher Education Progress Report is the 12th annual progress report designed to provide the Nebraska Legislature with comparative statistics to monitor and evaluate progress toward achieving three key priorities for Nebraska's postsecondary education system. These priorities were developed by the 2003 LR 174 Higher Education Task…

This article provides insights from a 2-year, cross-site evaluation of state funded developmental education sites and serves as a focus article for response by those sites. Receiving grants from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB), nine sites (5 community colleges and 4 universities) implemented innovative developmental education…

This report provides six mini-case studies of higher education policy reforms enacted in other states, exploring the important role that state policy leadership played in developing, promoting, and implementing these policies aimed at improving higher education outcomes, and discussing the relevance of each reform effort for California. This…

"Kids Share 2014: Report on Federal Expenditures on Children through 2013," an eighth annual report, looks comprehensively at federal spending and tax expenditures on children. Total federal expenditures on children were up from 2012, but below spending in 2010. Broader budgetary forces will continue to restrict spending on children over…

The "CAUT Almanac of Post-Secondary Education in Canada" is a source for the most current statistical information available on post-secondary education in Canada. The Almanac provides statistics on the following: (1) finance; (2) academic staff; (3) students; (4) universities and colleges; (5) research and development; (6) libraries; (7)…

Over the past three decades policymakers have been seeking new ways to secure improved performance from higher education institutions. One popular approach has been performance funding, which involves use of a formula to tie funding to institutional performance on specified indicators. This report reviews findings from studies on performance…

The coming five to ten years will drop community colleges into a lot of hot water. The question is this: Will community colleges sense the danger and jump out, or will they simply try to acclimate and get cooked? The theses of this article are that: (1) current trends in the external environment of community colleges constitute such an…

As state governors grapple with their budgets for 2012, public universities and colleges are facing some of the deepest funding cuts in memory. To make matters worse, most of the federal stimulus funds, which have helped dull the pain so far, will have been spent by June. It seems almost inevitable that IT departments are going to be asked to…

This paper examines a range of historical and geographic factors that determine the quality of public school education in post-apartheid South Africa. Empirical analysis shows, first, that population groups are still spatially segregated due to the legacy of apartheid, which implies that, given the positive correlation between school quality and…

Schools' use of digital technology has so far proved to be a peripheral feature of the Conservative-Liberal education agenda. Through a series of reductions to previously extensive bureaucratic and funding structures, the Coalition administration has presided over a swift but sustained withdrawal of state support for digital technology use in…

In January, 2015, the President unveiled the America's College Promise proposal, which would make two years of community college free for responsible students, letting students earn the first half of a bachelor's degree and earn skills needed in the workforce at no cost. This proposal will require everyone to do their part: community colleges must…

This study analyzes changes over time in long-lasting state performance funding systems for higher education. It addresses two research questions: First, in what ways have long-lasting systems changed over time in funding levels, indicators used to allocate funds, and measures used for those indicators? Second, what political actors, actions, and…

Low college enrollment rates among low-income students may stem from a combination of credit constraints, low academic skill, and low-quality schools. Recent Massachusetts data allow the first use of school district fixed effects in the analysis of credit constraints, leading to four findings. First, low-income students in Massachusetts have lower…