As states explore strategies for increasing educational attainment levels, attention is being paid to performance funding. This study asks, "Does the introduction of performance funding programs affect degree completion among participating states?" Utilizing a quasi-experimental research design we find limited evidence that performance…

With the advent of outcomes-based funding policies, state policymakers are increasingly committed to basing public college and university funding on how institutions perform on valued measures such as program progress and degree completion. This rising emphasis is considered here in the historical context of three earlier state funding approaches:…

The trends and the trajectory of higher education research expenditure in South Africa since the introduction of the New Funding Formula in 2004 have been analysed. The paper also compares the level of South Africa's total gross expenditure on research and development with those of other selected economies. The findings show that following…

Over the past 25 years, a small but growing number of school districts have implemented weighted student funding (WSF), a type of school-based budgeting system, as a way to increase school-level autonomy and flexibility and more equitably distribute funding among schools. In these districts, education leaders have implemented policies that…

"Districts' Use of Weighted Student Funding Systems to Increase School Autonomy and Equity: Findings from a National Study. Volume 1," is intended to provide both practitioners and policymakers with detailed information about the design, implementation, and outcomes of weighted student funding (WSF) systems in the United States. Findings…

In his 2012-13 budget, Governor Brown proposed a new system for allocating state revenue among California school districts. In May the governor revised his proposal. Using the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) School Finance Model (available at www.ppic.org/main/dataSet.asp?i=1229), in this update the authors show how these proposals…

In his 2012-13 budget Governor Brown proposed a new system for allocating state revenue among California school districts. By all accounts the current system is complex and opaque. In contrast, the proposed system--a weighted pupil funding formula--is simple and transparent. Using the PPIC School Finance Model, we compare how this formula would…

How do other countries fund their public schools? Through an analysis of common traits, such as the total percentage of funding for education in relation to the annual gross domestic product (GDP) and the annual per-pupil expenditures (correlated to the U.S. dollar), one can start to develop a clearer perspective on basic school-funding…

In 2011, the New Mexico legislature passed changes to the Charter School Act that provided more accountability for both charters and authorizers in New Mexico. As part of that law, the Public Education Department (PED) is asked to submit an annual report on the status of charter schools in New Mexico. This is the first report submitted under that…

Fiscal federalism deals with the sharing of resources in a federated nation. Over the years problems about local government finance have become an important aspect of intergovernmental relations. Constitutionally, local government is the third tier of government which exists as an independent entity, possessing some degree of autonomy and…

We examine the flow of federal grants-in-aid from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to the states. We simultaneously model two dependent variables (the flow of EPA funds, and state environmental and natural resource budgets) to identify the independent roles of state political institutions, political preferences, economic and…

For decades, state funding of public historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) has been shown to be de facto discriminatory relative to the funding of their predominately white counterparts. Although the dual system has been legally dismantled, the disparate funding has remained in place in a number of ways. For example, recent research…

The purpose of this study was to compare the foundation allocation and three special allocations for special-needs students, ESL students, and students with low socioeconomic status in Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia to see what these special allocations look like as vertical equity measures. Because stronger measures are needed if…

This report provides a first-time analysis of the nation's current investments in elementary-age children, defined as children ages 6 through 11. The authors consider over 100 federal programs through which the federal government allocates money to children, and subsequently estimate the amount spent on six- to eleven-year-old children. This…

In this paper, we use economic concepts to examine the choice that states make between giving appropriations to public colleges or need-based financial aid to students. We begin by reviewing the economic justification for state support for higher education. Next, we introduce a simple economic model for comparing and contrasting appropriations and…