Posts Categorized: Financing

Doing Good and Doing Well: Performance-Based Funding in Higher Ed

The New England Board of Higher Education released a policy brief that encourages states to tie a portion of higher education appropriations to institutional outcomes. Currently, New England states tend to apportion institutional funding based on enrollment levels—a practice that rewards quantity, but not necessarily student success and degree attainment. From President Obama to private fou...

Bleeding at NE Statehouses: The Latest on Budgets

The author, NEBHE consultant and former director of the Caucus of New England State Legislatures Carolyn Morwick, notes that this update on state budgets was accurate as of March 29, but events are changing rapidly in the six state capitals. Connecticut Biennial Budget Gov. Dan Malloy’s two-year $40 billion budget calls for $1.5 billion in new taxes, which includes hikes in the sales an...

Delinquents: Student Borrowing Behavior

Students who left postsecondary institutions before earning a degree or certificate—and students who attended two-year and for-profit institutions—faced delinquency on their student loans at much higher rates than their peers, according to a new study released by the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP). Delinquency: The Untold Story of Student Loan Borrowing,...

Ed Secy Duncan Urges States and Districts to Drive Achievement and Increase Grad Rates as they Trim

Citing the “new normal” and impending budget cuts, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan urged state leaders to boost student achievement despite dwindling resources."There is a right way and a wrong way to cut spending, and the most important guiding principle I can offer is to minimize the negative impact on students and seize this opportunity to redirect your spending priorities," Du...

Right This Way Please … Early Admissions Debate Rages On

In September 2006, Harvard made the decision to end early admissions. Early admissions takes on two forms: early action and early decision. What Harvard had in place was non-binding early action, meaning that a student applies before the regular deadline—in early November—and has until admissions decisions come back from other schools before deciding where to attend.Early decision, on ...

Complete College America Launches State Grants for Innovative Ways to Boost Degrees

Complete College America launched the Completion Innovation Challenge, a $10 million competitive grant program for states to significantly boost college completion and close attainment gaps for traditionally underrepresented populations.A national organization whose mission is to work with states to increase the number of Americans with college degrees or certificates of workplace value, Complete ...

Despite Bad Press and Financial Hits, For-Profit Colleges Could Be Key Source of Transfers

In a recent article in Inside Higher Education, transfer expert Marc Cutright of the University of North Texas writes about the growing importance that four-year colleges and universities should place on students transferring from community college. Public colleges, led by community colleges, grant more than a half million associate degrees annually and the number grew by 27% over a decade. But wh...

Worry about Affording Higher Ed Tops Reasons for U.S. Insecurity

"Making higher education more affordable" tops the list of solutions that the public believes would help people become more economically secure, according to a new Public Agenda survey, "Slip-Sliding Away: An Anxious Public Talks about Today's Economy and the American Dream."The New York City-based Public Agenda finds four in 10 Americans are struggling to pay bills and worried about maintaining...

Small Revenue Gains in NE States Not Enough to Stanch Ed Bleeding

The good news is that the New England states are showing slight gains in revenue collections. The bad news is that it will not be enough to stave off a new round of budget cuts for the coming fiscal years. States are preparing budgets for FY12 and FY13 while addressing shortfalls in FY11 budgets. Most states have spent stimulus funds to avoid massive layoffs in K-12 districts and higher education....

UMaine Augusta Brings Information Services Education to Remote Pacific Islands

The University of Maine at Augusta found a new niche for its online program in Information and Library Services thousands of miles away in Micronesia.UMA has partnered with Palau Community College to bring its bachelor’s program to students in Micronesia.UMA is also helping the community college build an online format for its associate degree program to make it more accessible to residents o...