Performance-funding for higher education diffused across the U.S. following the Great Recession that led to funding cuts for the system. Postsecondary funding never returned to pre-Recession levels, and public colleges are held to higher expectations even as the funding they might use to meet these expectations has diminished. This is a challenge…

Regional Public Universities (RPUs) advance public good missions to foster postsecondary access, student-centeredness, and regional wellbeing. Despite the important contributions that RPUs make to their regions and students, scholars and the media often view the sector as amorphous and undistinguished, or they define RPUs by what they are not…