Background/Context: Performance funding finances public higher education institutions based on outcomes such as retention, course and degree completion, and job placement rather than inputs such as enrollments. One of the mysteries of state performance funding for higher education is that despite great interest in it for over 30 years, only half…

Despite all intentions in the course of the Bologna Process and decades of investment into improving the social dimension, results in many national and international studies show that inequity remains stubbornly persistent, and that inequity based on socio-economic status, parental education, gender, country-of-origin, rural background and more…

This paper presents a framework informed by spatial models of politics to explain the dynamics of political competition in higher education policy and, in particular, the observed instability in the relationship between political variables and policy outcomes. To this end, I explore competing hypotheses for the relationship between government…

Despite the popularity of performance funding among policymakers and policy advocates, only half of all states have ever created a performance funding system for higher education. State performance funding systems have also been surprisingly unstable. Nearly half of those states that established performance funding systems for higher education…

"Policy and Performance in American Higher Education" presents a new approach to understanding how public policy influences institutional performance, with practical insight for those charged with crafting and implementing higher education policy. Public institutions of higher learning are called upon by state governments to provide…

Asian-Americans, who have traditionally shied away from political activity or have focused efforts more narrowly, are emerging in California as a workable political force in a statewide lobbying organization. (MSE)

British prime minister Margaret Thatcher's policies for higher education in Britain are compared with the influences of Ronald Reagan and Jerry Brown on California's higher education history. (MSE)

This article reports a study undertaken with two major purposes: to develop a profile of the ideal dean of education and to discover the impact of the Ryan Act upon the relative power of the dean of education within the higher education setting. (Author)

The development and outcomes of recent state efforts in California to limit adult education growth in the community colleges are examined. Although the resulting legislation curtailed further expansion of adult education, institutional pressure and continued public support prevented substantial reductions. (Author/LBH)

The lessons of state tax reform learned in California are that education systems need to establish working relationships with all constituencies, work closely with other groups with similar interests, build public faith in education, and encourage and support intelligent and courageous educational leadership. (MSE)

Methods used to study the cost of public higher education in California were assessed, and eight limitations of previous studies were identified. The intent in reviewing cost-research methodology was to demonstrate that prior studies adopted a narrow approach to the topic. It was proposed that a study of costs must provide an overview of the whole…

Three papers are included herein: (1) Pernicious Politicization in Academe (Luann Wright); (2) Victims of the One-Sided Campus (Mike Ratliff); and (3) Advocacy in the College Classroom (Anne D. Neal). Each paper was delivered on April 22, 2006 at a California Association of Scholars conference at the Annenberg School on the campus of the…

This study examined the media coverage of California higher education in the popular press in four of the state's major dailies. In particular the study examined the roles that the San Francisco Chronicle, the Sacramento Bee, the Los Angeles Times, and the San Jose Mercury News play in fostering the public debate about higher education. All the…

The new federalism is explained, and reaction to block grants in California is described. Some alternatives to current proposals and programs, effects on research in the social sciences and human services, and conclusions about the prospects for the new federalism proposals are discussed. (MSE)

An important element of academic planning and program administration is determining whether a course is to be offered for credit. Changes in the ground rules for the credit versus noncredit decision-making process within the California community college system are discussed. (MLW)