Numerous higher education institutions apply a full costing system in their accounting model due to the imposition of formal agents (governments/funding institutions), or by suggestion of informal agents (associations). This paper analyzes whether the rationale applied by these agents to justify the use of the full costing rather than the…

This mixed methods dissertation investigates the impact that cost-disaggregating tools like the Delaware Cost Study (DCS) have on the expenditure patterns at large, public research universities. It draws on public budgeting and higher education finance literature to form a theory of action that hypothesizes that expense management at such…

Policies on academic probation and dismissal have existed in the American higher education system for decades to maintain academic quality and encourage students to improve their performance. Research has aimed to clarify the relationship between academic probation, dismissal, and retention, yet differing results emerge. Furthermore, the…

In recent decades, education leaders and researchers have increasingly sought to disaggregate key higher education outcome data--graduation rates, attainment, employment, and income--by race and ethnicity in order to uncover and narrow equity gaps. The same is true, recently, for affordability, especially as it relates to the differential impact…

US colleges and universities have long been the envy of the world. Institutional autonomy has fostered creativity among faculty, students, and staff. But this autonomy means that colleges tend to create their own solutions for every need. As a result, higher education suffers from costly redundancies that drive tuitions ever upward, putting higher…

Over the past few decades, technology has revolutionized the way colleges and universities operate. This study examines the extent to which investments in information technology (IT) are associated with the number and types of higher education personnel. After accounting for time lags between IT funding and personnel changes, we found that…

Most Americans today need some education beyond high school to secure a well-paying job, and higher education is a key factor in social and economic mobility. But higher education is not accessible to all students. To further equalize opportunity, states must understand options for improving the way they fund higher education. America's public…

Like other nations, Vietnam annually subsidies higher education via state budget to maintain academic operations of public institutions. However, the question of how to fairly and appropriately distribute state funding to public institutions is still challenging, therefore unfair distribution to some extent influence their cost efficiency. Using…

The United States cannot meet its higher education goals without changing the way it funds public colleges and universities. Current funding models do not sufficiently advance fully scaled improvements. Instead, today's models create unfunded mandates: Colleges are required to increase completion rates, but they do not receive essential funding…

Congress provided more than $76 billion in total to eligible institutions of higher education (IHEs or institutions) to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus pandemic through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF), including $40 billion through the American Rescue Plan. This report details HEERF spending in calendar year…

This dissertation presents evidence about implementing a free college policy on higher education's demand and supply. This analysis includes descriptive evidence about the impact of the policy on students and programs' behavior. It also develops and estimates a demand and supply model of higher education that provides a framework to analyze the…

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…

Advocates of tuition-free four-year public college make the argument for it too easy by asserting that it would be paid for out of taxes on the wealthy. Other uses of the revenues are possible. In this paper, Harry Brighouse and Kailey Mullane establish two criteria for comparing different uses of the revenues: the first criterion is, will the…

The purpose of this report is to provide a baseline assessment of higher education funding in Virginia with a focus on education and general support (E&G), which accounts for approximately 54% of all funding for higher education -- about $5.3 billion in funds annually. It includes a general overview of funding for Virginia public higher…

Higher education enrollment and degree attainment rates have increased in the U.S. Yet higher education has remained inaccessible to many. Low- and middle-income students and students from particular racial and ethnic backgrounds enroll and attain degrees at lower rates than their peers. To gain insight into the topic of access to higher…