This study analyzed the degree to which state education funding systems supported social justice for the 1998-99 school year, where social justice was operationalized using the theory of vertical equity and research-based factors that placed students at risk of academic failure. The results of the study combined content analysis and statistical…

State and local governments spend billions of dollars annually on the construction, renovation, and maintenance of public school facilities, yet concerns persist about the condition of some school facilities, particularly in school districts serving students residing on Indian lands. The Department of Education's (Education) Impact Aid Program…

In a nation where education is funded largely by local property taxes, schools in wealthy communities have plenty of funds to spend on programs that get their kids ready for college. Schools in poor communities scrimp and save to get the job done--or hope that funding from the state will help fill in the gap. This article describes how students…

Each year, the National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs (NASSGAP) completes a survey regarding state-funded expenditures for postsecondary student financial aid. This report, the 38th annual survey, represents data from academic year 2006-07. Data highlights of this survey include: (1) In the 2006-2007 academic year, the states…

A central theme of approaches to new public management is the emulation of the market through state-induced competition. Basing state funding allocations on comparative performance is one way of setting an incentive for competitive practice amongst universities. Reforms in funding allocation have occurred in Germany at both state and university…

Higher education in New Jersey has arrived at a decisive moment. After twenty years of declining State funding and increased tuitions, the fortunes of citizens and the state hang in the balance. Student access to an affordable college education and the economic prosperity of the state are at stake. Increased funding is essential, but so too are…

New Jersey children and families begin this new decade with the state and nation in an economic downturn that has been marked by widespread job losses, an increased rate of child poverty and a growing number of households without enough to eat. These challenges are reflected in the measurements of child well-being in this report. "New Jersey…

In the last forty years, federal and state financial aid policy has fundamentally shifted the way in which students and families finance college costs. Whereas grants once served an important function in equalizing college opportunity, loans are now considered a key lever against escalating postsecondary costs (McPherson and Shapiro, 1998). This…

This article provides information on Maryland's state education finance and governance. The state provides a foundation funding program, which guarantees a minimum or foundation level of per-pupil expenditures for children in all the state's school systems; this is done through a combination of state aid and local revenue. In 2002, Maryland…

Current information about state scholarship programs that have been helping more and more students meet the rising costs of going to college. (Author/MLF)

Excerpts from "Budgeting for State and Local Government Services, reprinted from "ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE, September, 1968

Discusses higher education's financial problems with state legislatures. (Author/PG)

Three university presidents discuss the financial crisis in higher education and how it is blurring the differentiation between public and private institutions. (HS)

The Grapevine project, which began in 1960 by M. M. Chambers, entails an annual survey of state higher education and government officials. The intent is to record annual state tax appropriations for the operating expenses of higher education, noting percent changes from year to year. The Grapevine data are indicators of state tax effort in support…

Recent national budget shortfalls in the United States have caused many states to evaluate various ways to cut their budgets--including cutting education expenditures--while community college enrollments have continued to explode. The combination of these 2 factors threatens the traditional open door policy of public community colleges.