New methods of financing higher education used in Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom are summarized and compared. The paper concludes that while these approaches are designed to improve efficiency, realize specific outcomes, and leverage additional funds from other sources, they may have unanticipated, unintended, and, in some…

The potential for reconciling state formula funding of higher education with institutional planning needs is discussed. It is proposed that states invent a financing mechanism that funds a fair share of the strategic aims of each public college and university, yet allows the state to invest in a few priorities. New Jersey's experiment with such an…

One of the most critical components of the college or university chief financial officer's job is budget planning, especially using formulas. A discussion of funding formulas looks at advantages, disadvantages, and types of formulas used by states in budgeting for higher education, and examines how chief financial officers can position the campus…

This document describes a procedural alternative to current practice predicated on a critical analysis of the literature concerning the funding of public institutions of higher education. The document is partitioned into five sections. The first section describes the development of the formula concept. The next section describes how funding…

Discussion of European funding models for higher education looks first at different funding mechanisms used in several countries, with particular attention to formula funding and its increasing use. Institutional responses to differing financial and planning environments are noted, particularly when circumstances produce unwanted outcomes.…

Developed to assist two-year college administrators in understanding the application of the funding formula for California's community colleges that became effective July 1, 1991, this paper reviews revenue base limits; practical implications of the revenue base; the role of institutional growth in increasing base revenues in the absence of cost…