This brief examines braiding, blending, and layering funding streams as possible strategies for supporting and sustaining high quality preschool programs. Interviews across three states with school district administrators, a Head Start director, and the director of a child care program illustrate how some leaders at the local level combine…

Governments all over the world have been improving their educational sector through funding programs aimed at reducing the financial burden on parents, increasing access and quality to education. The government of Ghana in 2017 switched policy to a free senior high school policy to reduce poverty by finally eliminating the financial burdens…

"Cost­-sharing" refers to the principle that a variety of sources contribute to the cost of higher education. This study utilizes university-­level data from the United States to explore the increasing shift of cost burdens from governments to students. Panel regression results suggest that the share of expenditures drawn from tuition…

Imagine students attending colleges and universities around the country having their financial needs met without the use of federal loans, Pell Grants, and higher education tax credits. In "Starting from Scratch: A New Federal and State Partnership in Higher Education," New America's Higher Education Policy Program shares its vision for…

In 2012 the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Government introduced a number of reforms to the higher education system in England. The main change was to abolish direct state subsidies for the teaching of most subjects, and replace them with a state-subsidised tuition fee of up to $9,000 (US $13,700). A number of other changes were also made, all with…

During the past year, Wisconsin state legislators debated a series of bills aimed at closing low-performing public schools and replacing them with privately run charter schools. These proposals were particularly targeted at Milwaukee, the state's largest and poorest school district. Ultimately, the only legislation enacted was a bill that modestly…

During the last 25 years, there has been a major shift in the way that state and federal governments fund financial aid to students attending colleges and universities. This shift has been characterized by the idea of "cost sharing"--a "high tuition, high aid" model that requires students and their families to shoulder a greater percentage of the…

In 2004 Colorado passed legislation enacting the nation's first voucher-based approach to financing higher education, known as the College Opportunity Fund (COF). The work of an unusual coalition that included higher education leaders, generally conservative policymakers, and others, COF completely replaced the traditional approach of subsidizing…

The 2004 Higher Education Act introduced variable tuition fees of up to 3,000 British Pounds for full-time undergraduates in England. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) charging the maximum tuition must give low-income students bursaries of 300 British Pounds. On top of this mandatory minimum, HEIs now provide additional discretionary financial…

The Advisory Committee was created by Congress in the "Higher Education Amendments of 1986" to be an independent and nonpartisan source of knowledge, advice, and counsel to Congress and the Secretary of Education on federal, state, and institutional postsecondary student assistance. One of the most important analytical directives in the…

Failure to achieve equitable access to university studies has contributed to turning the focus to the funding of higher education systems. This paper aims to review critically the literature assessing the effectiveness of existing financing schemes and changes in them as a means for reducing the prevalent under-representation of students from a…

America's higher education system is among the best in the world. Nevertheless, there is scope for improvement. In particular, there appear to be substantial financial barriers to higher education despite large government expenditures aimed at promoting access. Policy makers have proposed addressing these barriers by increasing student grants.…

Policy suggestions for achieving the equitable and effective funding of Maryland public schools are offered in this document. The ideas presented draw upon papers presented and discussions held at a statewide conference entitled "Setting the Agenda for Funding Equity." Purposes of the conference were to develop the policy elements of a…

As Illinois higher education looks forward to a stronger state economy and subsequent improved state support, it is time to plan for the next recession. There have been five recessions in the past 35 years, but few higher education systems have been able to develop the processes and resources for weathering the storm. At risk are the quality of…

The Griffith Service Access Frame (GSAF) is a model used for quantifying the access disadvantage to educational services of remote and rural areas in Australia. The model was specifically developed to assist policymakers and administrators in allocating resources. The problem with the current funding formula used by the Australian federal…