12 for 2012 - 12 for 2012 is an ECS “read of the field,” built on our scrutiny of new reports and research, and our analysis of emerging drivers of change. The 12 policy areas do not represent an exhaustive list of the critical issues for the coming year, nor is this report intended to dictate your education policy priorities for 2012. Rather, 12 for 2012 is intended to stimulate thinking around how best to craft the “2.0” of powerful policy across the states. (ECS, 2012)...

College Funding in Context: Understanding the Difference in Higher Education Appropriations Across the States - As state funding for higher education declined over the past 20 years, community colleges and universities responded by raising tuition - 112% at four-year public universities. At the same time a stagnant economy increased the necessity of a good education, causing students and their families to take on unprecedented debt. Factors influencing higher education funding are analyzed and presented so they can be used by stakeholders and advocates to leverage greater support. (Demos, December 2012)...

State Higher Education Finance: FY 2011 - The State Higher Education Finance report is produced annually by the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) to help policymakers and educators address broad public policy questions with respect to public financing of higher education. This report examines: the levels of state funding to colleges and universities necessary to maintain the economic and social well-being of the American people; appropriate tuition levels; the amount of student financial assistance necessary, and; how colleges and universities might use available resources to increase productivity without impairing the quality of services to students. (SHEEO, March, 2012) ...

Cheap for Whom? How Much Higher Education Costs Taxpayers - The researchers first break down college selectivity into five broad classifications and make adjustments for the fact that for-profit private colleges fall exclusively into the low-selectivity group. When arranged into categories and statistically analyzed for financial cost, several trends emerge. When the public costs of each of these schools are compared with their corresponding returns in the form of income tax receipts, 9 of the 11 examined show a net financial gain. (American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, October 2011)...

Trends in Community College Education: Enrollment, Prices, Student Aid and Debt Levels - The authors describe the published prices of community colleges and the other expenses students face while enrolled and how these prices vary across states. They also examine institutional revenue sources, the financial aid community college students receive, student debt, and degree completion patterns at two-year public colleges. (College Board, June 2011)...

The State Fiscal Stabilization Fund and Higher Education Spending--Part 2 of 4 - This report explores how states distributed federal education stimulus funds and illuminates where stimulus money helped hide major state budget cuts to higher education. The report also identifies the states where major battles over college funding are emerging. (New America Foundation, May 2011)...

The State Fiscal Stabilization Fund and Higher Education Spending in the States - An examination of available state budget information can help address whether the stabilization fund was successful in supporting state higher education spending or if it enabled states to make larger cuts to their higher education spending than they otherwise would have. This paper is the first in a four-part series examining the stabilization fund's effect on state spending for higher education. (New America Foundation, December 2010)...

The Illinois Public Agenda for College and Career Success - The Public Agenda for Illinois Higher Education is a planning blueprint for the State of Illinois to direct state policies and resources to the higher education and career needs of Illinois residents and to address the current and future economic needs of the state. (Higher Education Finance Study Commission, December 2010)...

How Military Veterans Are Using the Post-9/11 GI Bill and Adapting to Life in College - The Post-9/11 GI Bill increased the higher education benefits available to eligible individuals. Offering benefits to nearly 2 million veterans, it is more generous than previous bills but beneficiaries report challenges in using the new benefits. This brief suggests ways institutions can help veterans using the new GI bill. (Rand Corporation, December 2010)...

Trends in College Pricing -- 2009 - Published tuition and fees at public four-year colleges and universities rose at an average annual rate of 4.9% per year beyond general inflation from 1999-2000 to 2009-10, more rapidly than in either of the previous two decades. The rate of growth of published prices at both private not-for-profit four-year and public two-year institutions was lower from 1999-2000 to 2009-10 than in either of the previous two decades. (The College Board, October 2010)...

How America Pays for College: Sallie Mae's National Study of College Students and Parents - This study of 1,400 undergraduate students and parents reveals that even in a continued period of economic uncertainty, families are digging deeper to invest in what they value: a college degree. Both parents and students opened their wallets wider, tapped more scholarships and grants and borrowed more to pay for the escalating total cost of college. Survey respondents reported the cost of college had increased 17% from the previous year. Parents paid nearly half the share of college costs and students paid roughly one quarter. College savings plans helped 15% of families. To make college more affordable 43% of families reported that their student lived at home. (Gallup, Sallie Mae, August 2010)...

Trends in College Spending 1998-2008: Where Does the Money Come From? Where Does it Go? What Does it Buy? - This national trends report examines national college enrollments, revenues and spending in the years leading up to the current recession, and highlights several ongoing patterns in how institutions get and appropriate their money. TCS Online, a new web-based application of the Delta project database, complements the national trends report with easy access to institution and state-level details. (Delta Project on Postsecondary Education Costs, Productivity and Accountability, July 2010)...

Investing in Change: How Much Do Achieving the Dream Colleges Spend--and from What Resources--to Become Data-Driven Institutions? - This report analyzes the experiences of five community colleges and the investments they made in implementing an institution-wide improvement process aimed at increasing student success. The colleges in this study are located in the southeastern and southwestern United States. The report examines how, where, and with what resources these colleges supported their reforms, as well as the key activities driving their overall expenditures. (Elizabeth Zachry and Erin Coghlan, MDRC, June 2010)...

The Rising Price of Inequality: How Inadequate Grant Aid Limits College Access and Persistence -- Report to Congress and the Secretary of Education - The federal Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance is charged with providing analyses and policy recommendations on the adequacy of grant aid from all sources (federal, state and institutional) and the postsecondary enrollment and graduation rates of low- and moderate-income students. In response to that mandate, this report provides insights drawn from National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) data that track the experiences of high school graduates through college. The findings suggest that grant aid from all sources is not adequate to ensure access and persistence of qualified low- and moderate-income high school graduates. (Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, June 2010)...

Tuition-Setting Authority and Deregulation at State Colleges and Universities - The arguments for and against tuition deregulation not only involve finance, but also policy and emotion. Declining state appropriations over time, combined with recession-driven state budget cuts compounded by recession-driven enrollment surges, bring the issue of tuition regulation to the fore for many state colleges and universities with few funding sources other than state appropriations or tuition. (Lesley McBain, American Association of State Colleges and Universities, May 2010)...

Postsecondary Institutions and Price of Attendance in the United States: Fall 2009, Degrees and Other Awards Conferred: 2007-08 and 12-Month Enrollment: 2007-08 First Look - This First Look report is based on the collection of data from more than 6,700 postsecondary education institutions that participate in Title IV federal student financial aid programs. (Laura Knapp, Janice Kelly-Reid and Scott Ginder, National Center for Education Statistics, October 2009)...

State Higher Education Finance FY 2009 - This State Higher Education Finance (SHEF) report provides a review of state and local support, tuition revenue, and enrollment trends for the most recent fiscal year. All the leading indicators, however, indicate that fiscal year 2008 is the last year of a short recovery. As a result, it is important to consider the upward trends in this report within the current economic context in the United States. The current recession will most certainly impact state financing of higher education in the year ahead. (State Higher Education Executive Officers, August 2009)...

Demise of Higher Education Performance Funding Systems in Three States - Higher education performance funding is both popular and unstable. The causes for the instability are examined in three states - Florida, Illinois and Washington - in this report and the authors point out some important commonalities. (Kevin Dougherty and Rebecca Natow, Community College Research Center, May 2009)...

Squeeze Play 2009--The Public's Views on College Costs Today: Public Agenda and the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education - This series of studies from Public Agenda and the National Center have monitored two different trends in the public perception of college education: 1) The necessity of higher education; and 2) the availability of higher education. Today, two thirds of Americans (67%) now saying that access to higher education is a problem. (National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, March 2009) ...

Policy Advisory to State Fiscal Policymakers: Postsecondary Education Spending Priorities for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 - This advisory defines the intent of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 as it relates to higher education funding. Recommendations are made for higher education fiscal policymaker's allocation funds from the Act. (NCHEMS, February 2009)...

Trends in College Spending: Where Does the Money Come From? Where Does it Go? - This report highlights a number of key issues related to recent trends in how colleges spend their money. Lack of “good” data and a myopic focus on revenues have distracted attention from this important topic. This report attempts to increase general understanding, awareness and interest in the topic of college spending patterns by showing the connections between enrollments, revenue, spending and results. (Delta Cost Project, Jane Wellman, Donna Desrochers and Colleen Lenihan, January 2009)...

The Global State of Higher Education and Rise of Private Finance - In the past two decades, financing higher education has undergone a remarkable transformation. This issue brief examines the role of private financing for higher education globally and an analysis of drivers behind the changes that have occurred. The brief concludes with future research topics that will allow key stakeholders to take advantage of private capital in their quest to improve and expand higher education around the world. (Ryan Hahn, Institute for Higher Education Policy, August 2007)...

Recession, Retrenchment, and Recovery: State Higher Education Funding & Student Financial Aid - As the nation emerges from the first recession of the 21st century, states need to assess the consequences, take stock of their challenges and resources and do what they can to prepare for the inevitable next fiscal crisis. The goal of this report is to identify and disseminate successful state-level strategies and policy tools to protect students’ access to postsecondary education through recession, retrenchment and recovery, and to identify strategies to help bridge these cycles. Of particular concern was the effect of recessions on access to college for students, particularly low-income students. (College of Education, Illinois State University, October 2006) ...

State Higher Education Finance FY2004 - This study documents a four-year period (2001-2004) when state funding for higher education failed to keep pace with extraordinary enrollment growth and normal inflation in the United States, leaving per student state and local funding near their lowest levels nationally in 25 years. (Paul E. Lingenfelter, David L. Wright and Tara M. Bisel, State Higher Education Executive Officers, 2005)...