In the United States, financial incentives have been used by the U.S. Government to reward performance at colleges and universities since the 1960s. Various case-studies have documented that incentivization programs may not result in positive outcomes. The purpose of this qualitative, multiple case study was to identify two-year, public colleges' effective and ineffective funding practices for improving performance to present adaptations and alternative suggestions to that of performance-based funding. For this study, the researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with six chief financial officers (CFOs) employed by two-year public colleges in the Southeastern United States. The sample size entailed the inclusion of CFO's from colleges of varying sizes, based on total full-time equivalent student headcount, which offered a broader understanding of performance-based funding as it is applied across colleges in these states. The results indicated that performance-based models are associated with state performance targets, while non-performance-based models are associated with local student and workforce needs. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]