LINKING PERFORMANCE TO FUNDING OUTCOMES AT THE STATE LEVEL FOR PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION: Past,Present, and Future

This article discusses the use of performanceindicators and performance-based funding by states fortheir systems of higher education drawing on theexisting literature on the topic. The different types of mechanisms currently used by states formeasuring institutional performance are described as arerecent state experiences with performance indicators,including their pitfalls and limitations. Additionally, a summary of the current status ofperformance-based funding applications is discussedincluding some of the reported difficulties inimplementing such funding models. Finally, the authorexplores the future implications of performance indicators andperformance-based funding mechanisms for public highereducation.     

A National Analysis of Noncredit Community College Education: Enrollment,Funding, Accountability,and Contextual Issues

ABSTRACT

Noncredit community college enrollment accounts for approximately 40% of all enrollment in the two-year sector, or five million students (American Association of Community Colleges, 2016). Yet, this population is seldom discussed in the higher education literature due to inconsistent definitions, funding, and data reporting at the state level. Many of the structural elements (e.g., funding, enrollment) have not been documented recently or completely. This study used data from the 2015 Survey of Access and Finance Issues, administered annually to the National Council of State Directors of Community Colleges. The authors calculated noncredit enrollment by function and frequencies on funding mechanisms, funding by function, noncredit data reporting, and the measures captured at the state level. The study also employed polychoric and polyserial correlations examining the relationships among structural, contextual, and perspective-based items. This was done to capture the national landscape on this important community college function through the lens of state-level community college leaders.     

The Funding of Community Colleges: Formulas & Governance

This study identified governing state entities charged with the development of a funding formula for community colleges. Analysis of the data revealed that 40 states utilized a funding formula. Twenty-one states had a “Higher Education” entity with governing control of the formula, 5 states had a “Community College” entity with distinct funding formulas for community colleges, funding formulas in 2 states fell under a “Comprehensive (K-20) Education” entity, and in 12 states control of a state funding formula was the responsibility of a state statute. Findings and implications of funding formula governance patterns are discussed.     

The New Norm: Community Colleges to Deal with Recessionary Fallout

Since the beginning of the Great Recession, many community colleges have experienced significant declines in state revenue, increases in enrollment, higher tuition, and flat or declining state student aid. These conditions have also occurred in an environment of heightened accountability with pressure to advance a student success agenda and to meet workforce training needs. Findings from the annual survey of state community college directors conducted by the Education Policy Center at the University of Alabama, in partnership with Iowa State University and The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, show that the majority of state directors feel states are moving toward a privatized model of higher education and that structural deficits exist in state budgets disadvantaging community colleges. The concern is that these and other related findings demonstrate a situation that may not improve as the nation climbs out of recession; this situation is creating a new norm in community college funding.     

Precollege Factors and Leading Indicators: Increasing Transfer and Degree Completion in a Community and Technical College System

Today, community colleges are challenged to maintain their historical identity of open access while increasing student success. This challenge is particularly salient in the context of performance-based funding models. These models create student achievements, which determine institutional levels of state funding. Therefore, these new student success metrics are important to the fiscal health of community colleges. In an effort to better identify the likelihood of meeting these metrics, some scholars have suggested leading indicators. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of leading indicators on transfer to a four-year institution and associate degree completion for community and technical college students at Kentucky’s two-year public institutions for groups based on student characteristics. Logistic regression analyses showed that leading indicators do predict transfer to a four-year institution and associate degree completion, but with varying levels of affect. Earning 30 credit hours by the end of the first year, passing a summer class and completing a college-level English class had the greatest effect on transfer to a four-year institution and associate degree completion. For performance-based funding models to be most effective and fair, policies and practices should consider precollege factors in their models. Also, these findings have implications for institutional level policy-making and practices.     

Community College Mission: Re(S)ources Make a Difference

Community colleges are unique among higher education institutions in their potential access to local appropriations as well as state funding. A total of 26 states reported to the Education Commission of the States in 2001 that community colleges in their states received some share of local funding. Using data for 781 public community colleges, we explored the implications of resource dependency theory for mission differentiation between dual-funded and state-funded colleges. Significant differences were observed in their student bodies, programming, expenditures, and outcomes. These differences have implications for the increasing dependence on state funding for community colleges and the roles these institutions play.     

Performance Funding Programs: Assessing Their Stability

State programs of performance funding for public colleges and universities are both popular and volatile. A previous article identified some characteristics of stable programs by comparing the survey responses of state and campus leaders from Tennessee and Missouri about their mature programs with those from four states that later dropped performance funding. This article uses those characteristics to assess the stability of the continuing programs in Florida, Ohio, and South Carolina. This article compares the survey responses of state and campus leaders from each of these three states about their programs with those from Missouri and Tennessee. The findings suggest trouble for these three programs, for they share few of the characteristics common to the stable programs in Missouri and Tennessee.     

A Sustainable Entrepreneurship Training Program

Across the country, educational and policy leaders are challenged to find solutions to the potentially serious shortage of certified public school teachers. Although community colleges enroll almost half of the undergraduate students in American colleges and universities, until very recently, little attention has been focused on their potential role in meeting this critical societal need. In addition to discussing pertinent literature, proposing a basic typology of teacher education delivery models based on those already being utilized by community colleges, and describing relevant issues and challenges, this article reports and analyzes the findings of a 2002 survey of state community college directors. The survey was designed to ascertain perceptions of these state leaders with respect to the current role of community colleges in teacher education and the importance of the issue in their respective states. Questions for further study and policy considerations are offered as an extension of the analysis of these data and issues.     

Impact of Institutional and Student Characteristics on Texas Community Colleges under the State’s Performance Funding Model

The study examined how institutional and student characteristics may influence the earning of student success points by state-supported community colleges under the Texas performance funding system that was fully implemented in the 2016–2017 biennium. Texas has historically funded community colleges based on an enrollment formula; however, the funding system was revised in 2013 by setting aside 10% of the enrollment-based formula funding appropriations to be earned back through a performance funding system based on student success points earned. The quantitative study used a correlation design with three hierarchical multiple regression analyses to examine the relationships between the student outcomes measures for public community colleges and institutional and student characteristics. The data examined were collected by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and made available to the public through an interactive website tool. Findings showed that although several student and institutional characteristics were significant predictors of the total success points earned, when the analysis focused on the change in success points between two sets of three-year averages, none of the student or institutional characteristics were significant predictors. These findings support the design of the Texas performance funding system and suggest that community colleges serving higher proportions of at-risk students, including students who are a minority, low socioeconomic status, part-time, and are age 25 and older, will not be disadvantaged using the system’s methodology of comparing an institution to its own historic performance. The contributions of this study are intended to assist state policymakers who are designing performance funding systems.     

Increasing Completion and Cutting Costs: An Examination of How the Flipped Classroom and One-Room Schoolhouse Models Benefit Community Colleges

Community colleges continue to operate in a society of accountability and efficiencies. Throughout the country, states have implemented performance-based funding and completion agendas while also tightening or restricting funding for higher education. The state of Ohio has implemented one of the boldest performance funding plans in the country while also mandating that higher education institutions limit spending and lower costs to students. This article explores how Central Ohio Technical College has implemented the flipped classroom and one-room school house models in college-level mathematics courses and how both models of instruction can help community colleges increase successful completion rates to meet performance-based funding completion metrics while also limiting instructional cost.     

Community College Governance,Funding, and Accountability: A Century of Issues and Trends

Community colleges in America are now very visible and highly respected institutions of higher education. More than 1,000 community colleges in all 50 states now comprise nearly 25% of all colleges and universities in the U.S., with over 6.5 million students, or about 45% of all college students.

State and local governance and coordination of community colleges vary from single-state governing boards to minimal state control and strong local governing boards. The relative degrees of state and local control of community colleges generally “follow the money,” in that accountability to state and local governing board and state legislatures is generally about proportional to the funds provided by each level of government.

Funding for operational support of community colleges comes primarily from state and local governments, with considerable federal support for grants and subsidized loans to students. In 2000–2001, the largest proportional funding sources for community colleges were: state governments (44.6%), local governments (19.5%), tuition and fees (19.5%) and the federal government (5.4%). State lotteries in at least 38 states represent a relatively new source of funds for community colleges, often in the form of student scholarships.

Many of the earliest public junior colleges charged no tuition, especially in California in the early 1900s. Now many community college students pay $3,000 or more per year in tuition and fees, and recent annual tuition increases in many states have been in double digits. This is a troubling trend that threatens to reduce access to higher education for poor people.     

Relevance and Quality of Universities’ Community Service: a study of Griffith University

In their mission statements most universities refer to the provision of community service. There is a continuum of such services. At one end is the general and indirect contribution through their teaching and research programmes. At the other are the specific and direct contributions through the use of their expertise and facilities. Within this context, Griffith University implemented a systematic assessment programme of its direct and specific community services. To gather data on the nature and extent of these services, the University conducted a detailed survey. To assess the quality and net effect of these activities, a programme of impact studies was conducted. Elements from the University bid for the opportunity to be included and 19 services which varied widely in aims, scope and target‐community were selected for funding. Evaluation methodologies adopted in these studies had in common an emphasis upon faculty‐community collaboration, a commitment to multiple data sources and types, and a concern for identifying trends and recommending improvements to current practices. This paper gives further details of this innovative approach to the evaluation of the community service performance of a contemporary university, and makes recommendations arising out of this project which may assist other universities in reflecting upon their policies and practice in this area.     

国际比较及启示:绩效拨款在高等教育中的实践

近20年来,世界发达国家高等教育财政体制改革的一个重要方面是把绩效因素纳入拨款公式。与投入拨款相对,产出或绩效拨款是指根据一些产出指标分配资源的拨款方式。丹麦、荷兰和美国的部分州,是三种不同类型的绩效拨款方式的代表。借鉴绩效拨款机制在各国高等教育中的实践,对目前我国高等教育拨款方式的改革是有意义的。     

The Desired Preparation of English Teachers as Perceived by Community College Administrators

Abstract

This study undertook to determine the desired preparation of community college English teachers as perceived by those persons most involved in employing those teachers. A survey of 100 community college administrators in 11 southeastern states revealed that the most preferred preparation should include the equivalent of at least a master's degree in English plus additional course work in education. Preparation programs should include courses that familiarize the student with the community college, its curriculum, and its students, and courses that develop competencies in instructional technology and audiovisual methods. English courses should be selected with emphasis on composition and language rather than literature. Respondents indicated preference for persons with teaching experience, especially in secondary schools or community colleges, but also placed value on business and industrial experience.     

芜湖城市社区体育设施运作管理的调查研究

运用问卷调查法、实地考察法、访谈法等对芜湖67个城市社区体育设施的运营情况、利用率情况、完好情况、看管和维护情况、经费来源情况进行调查研究．结果表明：芜湖城市社区体育设施公益性大于经营性;社区体育设施的利用率很高,但是体育设施远远满足不了居民的健身需求;社区体育设施的完好程度不容乐观的,有45％的社区体育设施处在部分完好或全部损坏的状态;有47％的社区体育设施无人进行看管和维护;体育设施经费来源主要靠政府支持、体育福彩、房产开发商和小区物业这四大块．但目前他们的投资力度远远不够,只是杯水车薪．     

Covet Thy Neighbor or “Reverse Policy Diffusion”? State Adoption of Performance Funding 2.0

Performance funding has become an increasingly prevalent state policy to incentivize student retention and degree completion at public colleges. Using a Cox proportional hazards model on state-level data from years 2000 to 2013, this study analyzes the latest wave of policies that embed base appropriations into the state budget to fund student outcomes. Results indicate that having a greater proportion of bordering performance funding states diminishes the likelihood of policy adoption, capturing a “reverse policy diffusion” effect. States with Republican-controlled legislatures, more professionalized legislatures, and rapid growth in unemployment rates are more likely to adopt the policy, while those with higher educational attainment levels and more bachelor’s degrees awarded per student are less likely. Implications include the surprising finding of reverse policy diffusion, which suggests that states are delaying adoption until after they can observe the political consequences and impacts of the policy in neighboring states. Findings point to a policy learning effect—by observing other state’s experiences, policymakers can make more informed decisions about whether to pursue performance funding as an accountability tool.     

Advancing an Equity Agenda at the Community College in an Age of Privatization,Performance Accountability,and Marketization

In this article we introduce and explain a funding framework for advancing an equity agenda at the community college. The need for the framework is premised on (a) Dowd's observation that the traditional community college commitment to student access no longer suffices as an adequate strategy to achieve greater equity in society and (b) the recognition that community colleges are becoming more entrepreneurial as a result of challenges posed by privatization, state performance accountability systems, and marketization. A new approach to advancing equity is needed in this environment. We propose a funding framework that reflects lessons learned from a review of funding systems used in English further education systems and community college systems in Colorado and California.     

Ethnic Heterogeneity,Group Affinity,and State Higher Education Spending

A rich interdisciplinary literature exists exploring the determinants of state higher education funding policies. However, that work has collectively ignored an important finding from political economy literature: namely, that citizens’ preferences regarding public spending are strongly influenced by the state’s ethnic and racial context. Drawing on a unique panel of state-level data covering the years 1982–2009, we find that states demarcated by increased racial and ethnic diversity and eroding white majorities do tend to spend less on subsidies to public higher education, resulting in decreased state appropriations as well as more tepid support for financial aid programs. Critically, however, we find that the negative effects of increased ethnic and racial fractionalization can be mitigated—and in some circumstances, fully offset—by a high degree of positive social interaction between ethnic and racial groups. These results are discussed within the pragmatic context of continued state emphasis on degree attainment as a mechanism to foster economic growth as well as broader considerations about equality and social justice.     

PUBLIC TWO‐YEAR COLLEGE FUNDING AND PROGRAM PATTERNS

Several sets of data were employed in efforts to address the major concerns of this study. The first was a national survey of state directors of two‐year colleges. From them basic data regarding the distribution of funding for public two‐year college institutions on a state‐by‐state basis was obtained. It was found that 57% of funding nationally was derived from state legislatures, 17% from local or regional governments, 14% from tuition, and 10% from other sources. Also computed from the survey data was the distribution of full‐time enrollments by generic program. It was found that about half of the full‐time students were enrolled in occupational programs.

Using selected national data, the cost per credit‐hour for 1979‐1980 full‐time students was computed to be $115 if 24 credit‐hours are considered a full‐time load, and $92 using 30 credit‐hours as a full‐time load.

Also determined were the correlations between selected population data and certain public two‐year college demographics. Strong positive relationships were found between state populations, number of colleges in the state, and the magnitude of the states’ gross weights (fraction of total national full‐time enrollments found in that state).