This paper discusses the key findings from a qualitative case study examining the implementation of an activity-based cost management model (ABC model) at a large community college. In a climate of fiscal uncertainty, the college adopted this model with the goal of improving budgetary decision-making. The paper examines faculty and administrators'…

Financial aid plays an essential role not only in allowing many students to enroll in college but also in supporting them in attaining completion and success. Often, however, the total amount of aid does not come close to covering the cost of attendance for full-time students. As a result, the majority of students enrolled at two-year public…

Financial aid plays an essential role not only in allowing many students to enroll in college but also in supporting them in attaining completion and success. Often, however, the total amount of aid does not come close to covering the cost of attendance for full-time students. As a result, the majority of students enrolled at two-year public…

The Aid Like A Paycheck student survey was designed to shed light on students' academic and financial attitudes, behaviors, and circumstances over the course of a semester. This supplement to MDRC's final report on Aid Like A Paycheck describes the survey, response rates, and responses to each survey item at three community college systems: two in…

In the wake of COVID-19, the U.S. pre-K-12 education system needs more than a refresh. Based on the success and popularity of the Opportunity Culture model, in this brief Public Impact recommends the means to bring critical, effective instructional and emotional supports to millions of teachers and their students--for a price tag the country can…

Supporters of the concept that states should finance their public universities using a performance-based model believe that the $75 billion states invest in public higher education each year will not be spent efficiently or effectively if it is based on enrollment or other input measures, because colleges have little financial incentive to…

The Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) has introduced positive and much-needed change to California's approach to K-12 education funding by allocating resources according to student need and freeing districts to make decisions that address local priorities. For all of LCFF's advantages, however, the Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAPs) in…

One major problem in developing school district budgets immune to cuts is the model administrators traditionally use--an expenditure model. The simplicity of this model is seductive: What were the revenues and expenditures last year? What are the expected revenues and expenditures this year? A few adjustments here and there and one has a budget.…

When the Connecticut State Department of Education published its first district report cards in 2003, it was obvious that the Hartford Public Schools district was struggling. Fewer than half of its students were proficient on the state reading exam. Math performance was better, but 63 percent of 10th-graders and 43 percent of younger students…

The Obama Administration is currently using more than $4 billion in federal stimulus funds in a controversial program called Race to The Top in an attempt to improve student achievement in public schools throughout the country. However, this study analyzes a different approach to spending stimulus funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment…

As part of the evaluation of the Strategic School Funding for Results (SSFR) project (called Budgeting for Student Success, or BSA, in Los Angeles Unified School District), the American Institutes for Research (AIR) conducted surveys of principals, teachers, and members of School Site Councils (SSCs) to gather information on their attitudes and…

Strong financial management is a strategy for strategic planning success in student affairs. It is crucial that student affairs professionals understand the necessity of linking their strategic planning with their financial management processes. An effective strategic planner needs strong financial management skills to implement the plan over…

This report summarizes the perspectives and attitudes of a selected set of district and school site administrators whom the authors interviewed in Twin Rivers Unified School District (TRUSD) during the fall of 2009. The authors carried out interviews and focus groups with these individuals to gain an understanding of how the current budgeting…

Institutional performance was a topic given considerable attention by the Commission on the Future of Higher Education. Florida's Community College System responded to the challenge by committing to increase performance-based funding allocations from less than 2% to 5% of total state appropriations. Results of the analysis indicated that…

Though the number of districts with student-based funding-type (SBF) policies has grown, the literature on the implementation and possible impacts of these policies is limited. To address this, this report describes the implementation of SBF policies in two California school districts--San Francisco Unified School District and Oakland Unified…