One of the standard labor practices of research universities is to hire, pay, and promote faculty members on the basis of the research they produce. In the humanities, professors write books and articles and universities reward them accordingly. The system amounts to a considerable expenditure for the institution and a significant portion of…

This study uses panel data to examine the direct link between state funding and graduation rates at four-year public institutions. When other factors are held constant, a $1,000 increase in state appropriations per FTE student at four-year public institutions is associated with about a one percentage point increase in graduation rates. This…