Understanding the funding requirements of public institutions starts with recognizing them as state assets with capacity to meet state needs, especially those that disproportionately serve underrepresented, low-income, or rural student populations and adult learners. As policy makers wrestle with resource allocation decisions under unfavorable…

California's public higher education system has catapulted the state into global leadership such that, the state is the 5th largest economy in the world today. A bachelor's degree, in particular, provides unrivaled economic and health benefits for the individual earning the degree and for the state. To better understand how California's public…

Since the Spring of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has upended the lives of billions of people worldwide. Seemingly overnight, colleges and universities transitioned their entire operations online. There is no playbook for how to best respond to this global pandemic. While it is virtually impossible to predict the lasting impact that COVID-19 will…

New America and the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO) partnered to track responses of state higher education agencies and systems on how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected state funding for public higher education. The pandemic has depressed economic activity and led to increased costs for states, both of which can…

Previous measures of the incidence of public investment in higher education focus on the transfer to public college students. This implies that the net benefits to students who do not attend public colleges is negative. However, they miss potential general equilibrium effects on the private college and labor markets. Changes in the public college…

This publication is an overview of Higher Education in California to provide readers with a deeper understanding about how the public systems work. The primer outlines the mission, enrollment, cost of attendance, and governance and funding structure of each of California's public higher education systems. This resource also provides critical facts…

This publication is an overview of Higher Education in California to provide readers with a deeper understanding about how the public systems work. The primer outlines the mission, enrollment, cost of attendance, and governance and funding structure of each of California's public higher education systems. This resource also provides critical facts…

The 14 four-year universities within Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education have been a pivotal engine of upward mobility for working families in Pennsylvania for decades. Today, the role of these schools in making the American Dream a reality for a hundred thousand Pennsylvanians each generation is threatened. Deep cuts in state funding…

Many states are passing "free" college plans, and policymakers at both the state and federal level continue to debate the merits of national "free college" or "debt-free college" proposals, also known as Promise programs. Both federal and state "free" college proposals are geared toward a policy objective of…

A new and rigorous examination of cost structures on the academic side of colleges and universities is needed in order to continue increasing access and serve the historic role of educating future citizens and functioning as an economic driver of society. Only rethinking the development and delivery of the curriculum will address today's issue of…

The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) Statewide Survey delivers objective, advocacy-free information on the perceptions, opinions, and public policy preferences of California residents. PPIC invites input, comments, and suggestions from policy and public opinion experts and from its own advisory committee, but survey methods, questions,…

A policy analysis of Florida's 10-factor Performance-Based Funding system for state universities. The focus of the article is on the system of performance metrics developed by the state Board of Governors and their impact on institutions and their missions. The paper also discusses problems and issues with the metrics, their ongoing evolution, and…

Public universities are not for-profit businesses with an easy-to-understand bottom line: their financial reports are not designed to convey information to the public fully or to reflect all the costs of teaching and research. Financial reports do track every dollar in accordance with the accounting rules required by auditors, but they do not…

The South Carolina Higher Education Statistical Abstract is a comprehensive, single-source compilation of tables and graphs which report data frequently requested by the Governor, Legislators, college and university staff, other state government officials, and the general public. The 2017 edition of the Statistical Abstract marks the 39th year of…

The South Carolina Higher Education Statistical Abstract is a comprehensive, single-source compilation of tables and graphs which report data frequently requested by the Governor, Legislators, college and university staff, other state government officials, and the general public. The 2016 edition of the Statistical Abstract marks the 38th year of…