In the U.S. higher education system, community colleges are heavy lifters: while they make up only about a quarter of the nation’s postsecondary institutions, they serve nearly half of all undergraduate students. But when it comes to evaluating the performance of two-year institutions, traditional outcomes metrics can provide an incomplete picture, failing to account for…
How Colleges Are Adapting in the New Age of Accountability
May 7, 2019
Giving more state money to public colleges that perform well on a number of desired outcomes, such as credit completion or graduation rates and retention rewards colleges with strong results.
As this report describes, there is plenty of evidence that points to both the benefits and drawbacks of performance funding policies. This evidence is being used to put forth a number of recommendations to improve the design and function of performance funding at the state level. And many of the recommendations put forth are also…
This brief tells the story of Indiana’s efforts to develop and implement outcomes-based funding (OBF) for public postsecondary education. Indiana’s story is supplemented by a briefer description of efforts in Tennessee.
Concerned with low on-time graduation rates, some state lawmakers are turning to outcomes-based funding as one policy approach to support postsecondary degree attainment and workforce goals.
This paper provides a conceptual framework that examines the interrelationship between state and institutional finance policies, including state appropriations, tuition and financial aid. It explores how state higher education goals can be advanced through outcomes-based funding policies that provide incentives for institutional behavior, and how policies can be designed to maximize student success.
Higher education, depending who you talk to, is a generator and transmitter of knowledge, a provider of opportunity and social mobility, a trainer of skilled workers for employers, a driver of economic development or any or all of the above. But alongside its lofty goals, it is also a big, complex $600 billion business that…
Policymakers are moving to outcomes-based funding in an effort to inspire public higher education institutions to drive the transformative change required to expand access, increase graduation rates and contain costs. For outcomes-based funding to have a significant effect on student outcomes, system and institutional leaders must successfully translate these policies into action. In an effort…
Combining the Best of State and Institutional Budget Models to Achieve Shared Goals
July 13, 2016
State governments serve as a key-funding source for public higher education. Outcomes-based funding is an alternative to other methods of state allocations to institutions, such as base-plus funding, enrollment-based funding, and early performance-centered funding.
Understanding complex labor markets including the demand for skills is key to guiding our investments in education and training. This is especially true for community colleges responsible for preparing a significant portion of the nation’s workers. These institutions are being increasingly challenged to better align their programs of study with entire economies undergoing restructuring and…
