Open Educational Resources (OER) have continued to gain traction in higher education, assisting with ever-rising costs of publisher textbooks and supporting pedagogical innovation. Starting in 2017, NY state legislature has allocated funds annually to be split between its two public university systems to support and incentivize the adoption of…

This paper studies the causal impacts of public universities on the outcomes of their marginally admitted students. I use administrative admission records spanning all 35 public universities in Texas, which collectively enroll 10 percent of American public university students, to systematically identify and employ decentralized cutoffs in SAT/ACT…

The Pell Grant is targeted to students with the greatest financial need, and many policymakers find the Pell Grant a useful policy lever for promoting access and success for students from lower- and moderate-income backgrounds. There are several examples where policymakers use Pell eligibility to allocate resources and hold colleges accountable…

Generally, need-based financial aid improves students' academic outcomes (Nguyen, Kramer & Evans, 2019). However, the largest source of need-based grant aid in the United States, the Federal Pell Grant Program (Pell), has a mixed evaluation record (Bettinger, 2004; Rubin, 2011; Marx & Turner, 2018; Park & Scott-Clayton, 2018;…

Conventional wisdom suggests that a field of striving compels US public master's institutions (PMIs) to pursue prestige in the academic hierarchy. We posit that, due to their unique histories of democratizing college opportunity, PMIs face conflicting imperatives from two fields: an origin one of equity and another of striving. Our hypotheses are…

The annual Performance Accountability Report (PAR) serves as an important mechanism by which public colleges and universities in Maryland are held accountable. Through a performance accountability plan, institutions are required to establish and maintain performance standards, and use metrics to assess their effectiveness in tackling institutional…

This year's "Tennessee Higher Education Fact Book" consists of four sections and an appendix of additional resources and terminology. The four main sections of the report provide data on Student Participation, Student Success, Academic and Fiscal Trends, and Outcomes-Based Funding. New this year, the report includes additional detail on…

What do state policies say about how to fund postsecondary education? This 50-State Comparison answers this question by searching state statutes, state rules and regulations, enacted state budget bills, and state postsecondary education agency policies that address postsecondary education budgeting and funding. According to the content of the…

This publication provides governmental and higher education decision-makers a statewide perspective of Arkansas public higher education finance for the 2021-23 biennium, as well as trends for the past several years. It also contains a detailed financial profile of each institution and presents a basis for comparative assessments of revenue sources…

This paper provides a brief overview of the current state of federal accountability and the need for change, and a summary of the landscape of state accountability reforms through funding structures for public colleges and universities. It explores key questions or decision points that must be addressed in designing a federal accountability system…

This publication provides governmental and higher education decision-makers a statewide perspective of Arkansas public higher education finance for the 2019-21 biennium, as well as trends for the past several years. It also contains a detailed financial profile of each institution and presents a basis for comparative assessments of revenue sources…

Students and their families evaluate net price when determining whether they can afford a college. But what affects net price? There are factors, such as instructional inefficiencies, administrative expenses, federal financial aid, and state appropriations, that have been noted in the literature that have an impact on costs and tuition. This study…

The nation's public universities--a key vehicle of upward mobility--must do more to even the playing field for all students. As it currently stands, students from the least advantaged populations earn degrees at a lower rate and are burdened with a greater portion of debt than their peers. However, some standout public universities are reversing…

This paper considers the history of Québec's higher education system and the reforms that have contributed to the role of education in the province. Québec's education system has repeatedly been a site for social and political transformation; most recently, reevaluation of education's role in the province has revealed a tension between…

America's "super-league" of global universities will play an increasingly pivotal role in the 21st century economy. These universities' substantial metropolitan and regional economic contributions are magnified by the role they play in fueling innovation, boosting educational attainment, and engaging with the rest of the world on an…