Determining the level and distribution of special education funding is an ongoing issue. Attempting to meet the extensive range of students' needs, while balancing funding coming from federal, state, and local sources leads to uneven funding burdens and questions about whether all student needs are being met. Traditionally, funding for special…

This year marks the 20th year of National Access and Finance Survey (NAFS) studies of access and funding issues in public higher education. National Council of State Directors of Community Colleges (NCSDCC) members are surveyed because of their broad knowledge of access and finance issues across education sectors and state government as well. For…

This study examines patterns of state financing in public community colleges. The focus of the study is to not only show the disparities that exist across the 50 states in terms of fiscal capacity to provide funding for community colleges, but also in the effort that is exerted to fund community colleges. The study combines the Bureau of Economic…

Since 1979 more than thirty states have adopted "performance funding" for public institutions of higher education. Under performance funding, a portion of the state appropriations for each institution is determined by the institution's achievement of performance goals on such metrics as retention and graduation. We argue that several…

This paper establishes the empirical relationship between the fiscal policy, demographic transition and public spending or expenditure on education in India with special reference to higher education. Public higher education spending is shown to be related to fiscal policy, if such expenditure is budgeted by the General Government and financed by…

This paper applies outcome-based school aid to Ohio's FY 2014 school district data to find systematic patterns between school aid parameters and outcome equity as well as fiscal equity. Empirical findings suggest that outcome-based power-equalizing aid improves both fiscal and outcome equity more than Ohio's aid formula does, with…

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which students in districts that have moderate or significant levels of capital funding through building and bond funds are placed at a relative resource advantage compared to students in districts with fewer funds from these two sources. Additionally, the study examines the extent to which…

For the first time in the history of the State of the States, all 50 states will be represented with entries this year. A number of state legislatures are working to provide public education the necessary fiscal support to provide students with a high quality 21st century education, or restore funding levels for public education to pre-Great…

Community colleges are the linchpin of the nation's current efforts to increase the proportion of adults with postsecondary education. Yet, despite the significant historical role community colleges have played in expanding access to higher education, there are reasons to question whether community colleges are equipped to supply these additional…

Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos wants to privatize American education using charter schools, vouchers, tax credit scholarships, education savings accounts, and portable federal funds. Court and legislative decisions are facilitating these ends. Understanding the school choice agenda and its fiscal, academic, and legal aspects can help…

Scholars and policymakers want to know how much investment is sufficient to attain high-performing schools. Examining education spending in a highly regarded education system can yield insights for the United States. This paper explores conceptualizations and applications of adequacy in the United States and the Republic of Korea. Our exploratory…

The relationship between lack of a high school diploma and juvenile incarceration is well known. This study investigated whether an increase in state fiscal effort for education is associated with decreased juvenile incarceration rates. Each state's and the District of Columbia's educational fiscal effort and its relation with state juvenile…

A significant body of work on the economics of education establishes links between specific interventions, such as class size reduction or increased teacher pay, and educational attainment (often measured by graduation rates). Many of these interventions rely on increased funding, so the current study builds upon previous work by analyzing the…

North Carolina special education funding utilizes a dollar allotment per identified student, applying a funding cap based on a percentage of district average daily membership. While representing an attempt to reduce over-identification of students with special needs the funding cap has led to large systematic disparities in district fiscal…

This study considers the relationship between federal academic earmarks and three types of state spending for higher education--general appropriations, capital outlays, and student financial aid. Often referred to as "pork," federal academic earmarks are both controversial and understudied. Using a unique panel dataset from 1990-2003,…