The State Higher Education Finance (SHEF) report is a tool to help policy makers and educators address broad public policy questions. SHEF seeks to inform policy deliberations with information and perspective on financial issues and national trends. The fiscal 2004 SHEF study documents a four-year period when state funding for higher education…

Discusses federal student financial aid, focusing on direct grant aid programs that serve needy students attending community colleges. Presents recent data showing that lower-income students attending community colleges are likely to receive less direct grant aid than those attending for-profit proprietary two-year institutions. (Contains 26…

The summer drought, the oil-market slump, and the desire for political popularity are among the causes for state financial problems. A report by the National Governors' Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers found that in 1987, the amount of money left in general-fund accounts was at its lowest point in 12 years. (MLW)

Eight common objections to performance funding of public colleges are presented and answered. The arguments focus on the complexity of higher education's goals, diversity of institution type, subjectivity of educational quality, relative power of the allocation amounts linked to performance measures, politics of resource allocation, cost of…

Public colleges and universities are complex organizations that assert their institutional autonomy as they simultaneously operate in a context demanding response to public and political scrutiny. State boards and legislators, for example, enact programs, incentives, or regulations in many policy arenas designed to affect how colleges operate. One…

This article reviews the development of state funding formulas or guidelines for public higher education. Originally viewed as a means to distribute public funds in a rational and equitable manner, they now are complicated methodologies. Funding formulas are all-inclusive or itemized; most states use the itemized approach. There are three…

This report summarizes Colorado student aid program expenditures for 1994-95. It briefly describes the following program types: need-based grants, merit-based grants, Colorado work-study, diversity grants, required federal matches, Colorado nursing scholarships, and categorical programs. Highlights of the report reveal the following: state…

This paper presents the Washington State Higher Education Coordinating Board's determination of approved educational costs intended to serve as the basis for general tuition and operating fees for the ensuing biennium of 1993-95. The report first explains the background of the statutory responsibilities for tuition and fee determination, followed…

This document presents recommendations of the Illinois Committee to Study Underserved Areas concerning areas of the state in need of additional educational services. The document urges the Illinois' Board of Higher Education to adopt the Committee's recommendations as the Board's official policy. In summary, the Committee proposes the…

One of the working papers in the final report of the Arizona Board of Regents' Task Force on Excellence, Efficiency and Competitiveness examines the role of private fund raising in enhancing the excellence and competitiveness of Arizona's three public universities. National trends in university philanthropy are noted with a focus on state matching…

"Grapevine" presents timely data on state tax legislation, state appropriations for universities, colleges, and junior colleges, and legislation affecting education beyond the high school. This compilation presents issues of "Grapevine," published between 1977 and 1988, containing such articles on community colleges as: (1) "State 2-Year Colleges…

Governor Mario Cuomo has proposed that New York State guarantee enough state aid for all poor seventh graders finishing high school to attend a state college or an equal amount of money to attend a private college in the state, the first such effort at the state level. (MSE)

This report provides information on Georgia's state-funded tuition assistance programs for postsecondary students. It notes that state-funded tuition assistance is available to students attending public and private postsecondary educational institutions, both in and outside of Georgia. Aid is provided either by awarding scholarships or by waiving…

Prompted by state legislative action seeking to address the possibility of a tuition surcharge on students who take more than 140 credit hours to complete a baccalaureate degree, this study analyzed the number of semester credit hours required for graduation from baccalaureate degree programs at South Carolina's public colleges and universities.…

This report evaluates the status of certain aspects of public higher education in Colorado including educational excellence, educational access and diversity, efficiency in the delivery of education, and adequacy of resources for the delivery of education. Specific information is provided on the following: (1) American College Testing and…