Objective: To assess whether and how beverage companies incentivize universities to maximize sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) sales through pouring rights contracts. Methods: Cross-sectional study of contracts between beverage companies and public U.S. universities with 20,000 or more students active in 2018 or 2019. We requested contracts from 143…

The 2019 "Education Next" Poll found 60% of Americans endorse the idea of making public four-year colleges free, and 69% want free public two-year colleges. There are also critics of free college schemes. They include some families who had to scrimp and save for their children to earn degrees. The "New England Journal of Higher…

Using well-defined notions of region, panel data, and an econometric approach suited to estimating parameter coefficients on time-invariant regressors, this study finds that region is a highly influential factor for state-level public higher education prices even after controlling for other well-known drivers. Additionally, prices track the…

The traditional mission of community colleges is rooted in the provision of sub-baccalaureate education at a low price, but a total of 19 states have changed their legislative policies and currently allow community colleges to offer community college baccalaureate (CCB) degree programs. This study examines the impact of CCB adoption on the tuition…

Student fees remain an under-researched aspect of postsecondary education and finance (Kelchen, 2016). This study examines the mandatory and additional fees charged to full-time, in-state undergraduate students by public and private not-for-profit four-year institutions in Texas (n=96). Findings demonstrate the average four-year institution in…

Louisiana's performance-based funding (PBF) policy is one of the most recent implementations of performance funding established by a state for accountability purposes. Instead of examining direct academic outcomes, this study focuses on tuition increase as an (un)intended outcome of PBF implementation. We use data from multiple sources to create a…

States provide substantial support for higher education through appropriations to public colleges and universities that can be used to maintain relatively low tuition levels and funds for financial aid. Higher education often receives disproportionate cuts during recessionary periods, and it faces potentially unprecedented reductions in coming…

Tuition-free college policies have gained momentum since the implementation of the Tennessee Promise, which provides financial aid to students pursuing two-year post-secondary degrees in Tennessee. While previous research has addressed the effects of similar programs on student outcomes, scholars have yet to thoroughly investigate potential…

The information on academic performance rates--what percentage of the enrolled credits a student can pass in one academic year--showed traditionally a relatively low students' academic performance at Spanish public universities. However, over the period 2008-2014, the academic productivity of undergraduate students at public higher education…

Globally, the increasing cost of university education, growing student enrolments and weak economic of nations have caused a reduction in public funding for university education. This decline in public funding seems to have increased tuition fees, caused deterioration of infrastructure, thereby affecting student access to university education. In…

The rising price of a year in college looms large on the American political landscape. Calls to make college free, or at least debt free, will figure prominently in policy and political debates going forward. To make sense of this debate, an understanding of the forces that have been driving the price of a year in postsecondary education upward…

This study tested the Bennett hypothesis by examining whether four-year colleges changed listed tuition and fees, the amount of institutional grants per student, and room and board charges after their states implemented statewide merit-based aid programs. According to the Bennett hypothesis, increases in government financial aid make it easier for…

I examine what the characteristics of competitive community colleges are and how the ranking systems identify the ideal qualities of community colleges through a comparison of community colleges to prestigious four-year institutions. I provide information regarding the institutional differences and the characteristics of top-ranked community…

Over the past few years, Portugal has become a proactive recruiter of international students (Sin, Antonowicz and Wiers-Jenssen 2019). Portuguese institutions have been the preferred choice of students from the former Portuguese colonies coming through agreements with the Portuguese government (França, Alves, and Padilla 2018). Consequently, in…

This note from the field reviews the sustainability of an institution-wide program for adopting and adapting open and alternative educational resources (OAER) at Kansas State University (K-State). Developed in consult of open textbook initiatives at other institutions and modified around the needs and expectations of K-State students and faculty,…