Finance
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Financing California’s public higher education system has become a primary concern of policy makers in this time of growth in the college-age population, significant demographic change in that population, and continuing fiscal constraints that limit available resources. State finance policies and mechanisms provide powerful incentives for both students and higher education institutions. The Institute’s work in this area is focused on ensuring that California’s finance policies, including state appropriations, financial aid, and tuition policies, are structured in a way that maximizes the state’s return on its investment in higher education. Specific efforts have included:
- Performing an audit of current finance policies that govern the community colleges, defined broadly to include policies affecting state appropriations, the distribution of those funds across and within campuses, student fees, and financial aid, to determine the incentives embedded in those policies;
- Participating, along with legislative staff and the Campaign for College Opportunity, in the Changing Direction project sponsored by the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education (WICHE), which is aimed at helping states develop better higher education finance policies;
- Analyzing the various dimensions of the challenge California is facing to finance its higher education system, and how a combination of state appropriations, student fee revenues and increased efficiencies might offer a solution;
- Comparing the funding mechanism for adult education in California with those in several other states, and examining whether allocation methods in California match the needs for adult education services.
Publications |
Presentations |
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It Could Happen: Unleashing the Potential of California's Community Colleges to Help Students Succeed and California Thrive Invest in Success: How Finance Policy Can Increase Student Success at California's Community Colleges Buying the Right Thing: Using a Policy Audit to Align Community College Finance with State Policy Goals, April-June, 2007 Rules of the Game: How State Policy Creates Barriers to Degree Completion and Impedes Student Success in the California Community Colleges, February 2007 Shared Solutions: A Framework for Discussing California Higher Education Finance, June 2005 Funding Adult Education: Does California Put the Money Where the Needs Are?, January 2004 |
Using a Policy Audit to Align Community College Finance with State Policy Goals Financing Community Colleges: Policies, Incentives and Language Matter Financing Community Colleges: Policies and Incentives Matter. Presentation to the Association for the Study of Higher Education, November 7, 2007 Buying the Right Thing: Using a Policy Audit to Align Community College Finance with State Policy Goals Shared Solutions: A Framework for Discussing California Higher Education Finance Meeting California's Higher Education Needs: Challenges and Prospects Highlights of Institute's Reports, (1) Variations on a Theme and (2) Shared Solutions Suggestions for Addressing California's Higher Education Challenges Funding Adult Education: Does California Put the Money Where the Needs Are? State Financing of Higher Education: Policy Implications |