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 until after improvements make an impact. Complete College America (CCA) addresses this challenge with completion-goals funding, a new approach to managing higher education resources, helping colleges introduce proven reforms, and dramatically increasing completion rates. With completion-goals funding, colleges receive funds up front, and then they must meet completion targets. Completion-goals funding--an evolution of outcomes-based funding--is the next step in improving outcomes and meeting state completion goals.