In recent years, much of the education policy debate has become consumed by America's "culture war." State legislators and school boards across the country have questioned whether public schools ought to reinforce, or transform, America's civic culture. Over 90 percent of Americans believe arts are important for the education system, and…

A survey of all 50 states and District of Columbia was conducted in Fall 2020 to gain background information to inform an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grant project called SLIDE: The School Librarian Investigation--Decline or Evolution? As part of the grant, a school library leader, some in a state government/agency position or…

Discussions about school funding can create more confusion than clarity. Each state has its own intricacies and peculiarities. Michigan is no exception. Funding flows down from different sources, often based on different formulas and intended for different purposes. There's no one unified system that controls school funding -- rather, schools rely…

Recent headlines have brought attention to the effects that unfavorable demographic and fiscal conditions are having on postsecondary education institutions. Among those most acutely feeling the pressures are likely to be institutions located in rural communities that are seeing more rapid population declines and lagging median income. This…

Undocumented students are barred from accessing financial aid and face enormous obstacles in completing college (Gonzales, 2009). However, in 2011, California passed the California DREAM Act that granted undocumented students access to state financial aid (California Student Aid Commission, 2016). The purpose of this study was to examine the…

One of the main ways that states provide opportunities to people and build a strong economy is by making education affordable to everyone. Ohio provides need-based aid to students pursuing postsecondary education through a program called the Ohio College Opportunity Grant (OCOG). This is essential to helping students from low-income backgrounds…

The recent closure of multiple large, proprietary (or private, for-profit) institutions of higher education (IHEs) has brought into focus the extent to which a postsecondary student's education may be disrupted by a school closure. However, even in instances of a small IHE's closure, student concerns remain the same. Concerns include the…

The goal of state special education funding should be to equitably distribute funds that are adequate for all schools to meet their legal obligation to provide a free and appropriate public education to students with disabilities. Unfortunately, inadequate state special education funding is growing more common in Philadelphia schools. In this…

Across all 50 states, there are different ways in which states allocate K-12 funding to districts. This document provides information on small size or isolated funding adjustments, including funding mechanism, small size/isolated identifier, and small size/isolated citation. To classify funding mechanisms that appear in state statute or in…

Each year, 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 50th annual survey, represents data from academic year 2018-19. This report provides data regarding state-funded expenditures for student financial aid…

Higher education is a critical tool for social mobility, but today, students and their families face significant challenges. It is against this backdrop that the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) convened the Task Force on Higher Education Financing and Student Outcomes. This group has identified several areas of federal policy ripe for reform that…

In an era of billions of dollars in outstanding student loan debt, researchers have posited that the U.S. News & World Report rankings continue to be an influential source of information for prospective students, yet these rankings do not include college affordability metrics in their ranking algorithm. As a result, this study performed a…

Since the Great Recession, a number of public colleges and universities have become operationally vulnerable. In this article, the authors point to two related processes leading to this crisis in public higher education. The first is the recent deterioration of operational conditions for a number of public colleges and universities. The second…

The 2020 General Assembly directed the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) to develop a plan for implementing a statewide survey of institutional expenditures by program and academic discipline at Virginia's public higher education institutions, and submit a report and recommendations to the Governor and the Chairs of the House…

State and district policymakers have difficult decisions ahead in their efforts to balance budgets, maintain school services, and prioritize safety amid the COVID-19 recession. While California's finances are stronger today than after the Great Recession a decade ago, funding for the school system is still volatile, and K-12 schools could face…