As the coronavirus pandemic ravaged communities, cities, and countries in 2020, colleges and universities faced a unique emergency. Millions of students were struggling to meet their basic needs, and institutional emergency aid funds were rapidly running out. For the first time in history, Congress responded by authorizing billions of dollars in…

In February 2015 a large group of scholars, researchers, and practitioners interested in P-20 finance issues gathered in St. Louis, Missouri, for the National Education Finance Academy's annual conference, on February 25-27, 2015 to discuss, among multiple topics, the state of P-20 finance in all 50 states. There were 35 states represented in the…

When Brad R. Simpson visited the University of Connecticut for a job interview in February, he was struck by a vibe that he finds increasingly rare on college campuses. People, he says, were optimistic. At a time when he encounters many demoralized professors, as campuses across the nation slash budgets and freeze hiring, the University of…

"National CrossTalk" is a publication of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. The National Center promotes public policies that enhance opportunities for quality education and training beyond high school. The primary purpose of "National CrossTalk" is to stimulate informed discussion and debate of higher…

As president of Miami University of Ohio from 1996 until 2006, James C. Garland redefined the public institution as a "semi-private" university by implementing the same tuition for both in-state and out-of-state students. Students from Ohio with need received large scholarships--but those who could afford to pay more did so. The reform,…

Most colleges and universities that launch into social media do so by dipping one toe in the water rather than swan diving into the deep end. And while many people define "social media" as Facebook and perhaps Twitter, the term actually encompasses everything from blogs to photo- and video-sharing sites to LinkedIn to any of dozens of…

There has developed moderate discussion in European higher education about the use of performance indicators for both accountability and evaluation purposes. This paper begins by summarizing governmental expectations, institutional objections, and several of the controversies surrounding performance measures. We then report on using performance…

This document presents the annual report and recommendations of Minnesota's Medical Education and Research Costs (MERC) Trust Fund, a program that provides funding for the clinical training of selected medical professions through compensating the costs of training provided in a clinical teaching environment. State general funds and health care…

This study presents a methodology for planning the efficient development of the educational infrastructure in a region. It is primarily concerned with solving the problem of how one allocates an exogenously fixed set of resources among different educational programs. In addition it deals with such related issues as: How does one choose among…

This report responds to a Minnesota legislative requirement that required the Commissioner, with the advice of the Medical Education and Research Costs (MERC) Advisory Committee, to "develop a system to recognize those teaching programs which serve higher numbers or high proportions of public program recipients and...report to the legislative…

This report responds to Minnesota state legislative requirements for an annual summary report on the implementation of the Medical Education and Research Costs (MERC) Trust Fund. The report provides information on 1998 Trust Fund distribution and the status of applications and distributions for fiscal year 1999. It also includes information on the…

Summaries of the design, planning, and implementation of performance funding programs in Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington reveal the challenges and opportunities of this reform approach. Performance measures and objectives and the history of the program in each…

Performance indicators used for state funding, past and present, of public colleges in Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington are reviewed to explore their intent and implications and to provide information for policymakers considering introducing or revising…

A 1996 survey of state policymakers and public college representatives in states with performance funding (Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee) is presented. Although differences exist across states in a number of areas, findings challenge the assumption of an irreconcilable gap between…

This volume focuses on school finance challenges in large urban school districts, fiscal accountability in these schools, and the fiscal dimensions of urban school reform. The 12 papers are (1) "School Finance and Urban Education Reform" (Christopher Roellke and Jennifer King Rice); (2) "Can Whole-School Reform Improve the…