Over the past 30 years the costs of higher education have climbed faster than the rate the inflation. As these costs have risen, state appropriations for public institutions have not kept pace. While not declining in real dollars, as a portion of meeting the expenses of funding public higher education, state appropriations have been steadily falling over the past three decades. Not surprisingly, during this period tuition at public colleges and universities has risen dramatically, leading to concerns about access to higher education, in particular for students of low income backgrounds.The literature contains many studies highlighting the increasing costs and tuition charged by public colleges and universities. Little has been written about the specific relationship between the level of state appropriations at a particular institution and the pricing and financial aid policies it then adopts. By analyzing the data for public institutions in the Integrated Postsecondary Educational Data System (IPEDS) as well as data for specific students in the National Postsecondary Student Aid Survey (NPSAS) for five school years spanning 1989-1990 to 2003-2004, this study conducts a quantitative analysis to create a predictive model capable of forecasting the impact of changes in state appropriation on institution pricing and financial aid policy. In an environment where the continued decline of state appropriations as a portion of meeting educational costs is a real possibility, such forecasting ability may prove invaluable in crafting policies to insure access to higher education for certain student populations.

The majority of South African learners attend public schools, all of which are encouraged to supplement government funding with private funds - namely through fees charged of learners' parents. A review of the literature suggests that school fees can impede the right to education and the achievement of other national development goals by restricting access for poor learners, or by diminishing the quality of education. While the issue of school fees has been hotly debated in South Africa, there is little information about what is actually happening in schools. This research, conducted in a peri-urban area outside of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, is designed to explore the perspectives and experiences of principals with regards to the school fee policy. Eleven principals were interviewed: nine from relatively poor schools and two from a wealthier area, and their experiences with regards to the implementation of the school fee policy were compared and analysed. The findings suggest the implementation of the policy tends to be similar across schools of similar financial standing, but that there are considerable differences between the experiences of principals from poor and wealthy schools. The wealthier schools implemented the policy 'to-the-letter' and had hired staff and created systems to ensure all rules were properly followed. All of the poorer schools found parts of the policy impossible to implement in their schools and had adapted the policy in similar ways to better fit their situation. For example, amongst other adaptations, they allowed parents to apply for an exemption by simply discussing their circumstances with the principal, or obtaining an affidavit from the police, instead of making everyone fill out an official application form. Part of the problem is that the policy is based on assumptions which are not consistent with the reality of the South African context in that there are many different 'realities' faced by schools, yet there is only one rigid policy. Many schools find parts of the policy's processes to be impractical or irrelevant at best, and actually decreasing the quality of education they are able to provide at worst. Areas within which policy assumptions and reality did not match include: the implications of the distribution of income in South Africa on school financing; the power and access to information of parents and SGBs, and the ability or desire of parents to pay fees and/or be involved in the oversight of their children's education; and, the ability of provincial Departments of Education to properly support poor and/or Nonsection 21 schools. Additionally, Non-section 21 schools were found to be at an economic disadvantage compared with Section 21 schools. Another issue is that there are currently adverse incentives built into the policy. Amongst other effects these incentives encourage principals to minimise the number of exemptions approved, and for parents to either not pay at all, or to provide information to principals that underestimates their annual income. The significant contrasts in experiences between experiences of poor and wealthy schools and the adverse incentives built into the policy suggest the right question to ask may not be whether or not schools are implementing the policy correctly, but whether the policy is correctly designed to achieve the goals of the South African education system within the current context. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

The primary purposes of this study are fourfold, namely: (1) to summarize the writings of specialists in school finance and public finance which are judged to have significance concerning the nature, source, control, and measurement of local fiscal ability; (2) to develop an analytical evaluation of the "bases" of the proposed measures; (3) to develop a criterion of the relative taxpaying ability of Arkansas counties in terms of the actual valuation of real property; and (4) to determine the significance of the association among the three measures and the relative significance of the degree of relationship of each measure to the criterion.

<p> The value proposition of the public liberal arts colleges is that they provide the quality of education typically associated with esteemed private liberal arts colleges at a comparably lower cost. These institutions emphasize access and affordability, and a rich and rigorous undergraduate education in "small" residential settings, making this type of education available to students who otherwise could not afford it. Given the decline nationally in state funding of public higher education, demographic shifts affecting who goes to college and how, the &ldquo;disruption&rdquo; of technology, and the public questioning of the value of a liberal arts degree, this dissertation looks at how three public liberal arts colleges are responding to these changes and how both the changes and institutional responses to them are shaping or reshaping their mission.</p>

<p> Public universities face significant funding challenges as states continue to look for efficiencies or outright cuts. In addition, the call for accountability in higher education continues to grow as state lawmakers, policy analysts, and researchers voice concern that degree attainment has stagnated, is too low to support economic growth, and takes too long. Business and political leaders are also increasingly interested in developing higher education accountability in response to concerns by students and families over the rising cost of a degree. Together, these themes of accountability and cost control have resulted in dramatically different policy innovations in the form of performance-based funding in a growing number of states. However, these policies have thus far produced scant evidence of success. Furthermore, the potential unintended consequences of these policies seem large, including the risk of increased selectivity resulting in increased class-based inequality and the risk of decreased educational quality. Thus, the shift from basing state support on inputs to outputs could be much more than a simple accounting change. By stressing different priorities, the shift may ultimately alter the historic access mission of public higher education. Ohio created a new policy in 2012 that funds 100 percent of undergraduate higher education state appropriations to public universities on the basis of outcomes, the most aggressive policy of its kind in the nation. This study investigated the perceptions of 24 Ohio higher education leaders regarding this policy innovation and combined those responses with related performance metrics in order to synthesize a more comprehensive understanding of early impacts and implications, particularly as it pertains to outcomes, access, and education quality. The results of the investigation suggest that that retention has improved, access has decreased, and quality has been unaffected. University leaders were largely in favor of the policy and supported increased selectivity even in the face of declining enrollments. Although concerns remain regarding at-risk student support, the study suggests that a 100 percent performance-based policy may have positive benefits and achieve the intended objectives. It may also alter our conception of the broad access mission of higher education as access is traded for student success. </p>

<p> The distribution of funds is critical to support quality education and represents large portions of school district's overall budget. With the increase of expenditures in education in the United States, the changes are not evident with increased student achievement. The problem that this study addressed is the spending of districts and student achievement growth. There has been mixed research evidence from the research regarding the relation between the size of a district&rsquo;s educational budget and students&rsquo; level of educational achievement. Based upon the mixed results established by previous research, this study has determined, within the state of Illinois, if a relationship between the funding and student achievement growth exists. In particular, the study assesses the relation between expenditures in the instructional expenditures of school districts and student achievement growth. This study adds to the body of evidence on utilization of resources with particular emphasis on the budget spent for instruction and student achievement growth. In particular, the study assesses if there was a correlation between the instructional expenditures and academic achievement growth for public school districts in Illinois.</p><p> This quantitative longitudinal, causal comparative study of extant data investigated the relationship of the independent variables of instructional expenditures, district size, teacher experience level, and teacher salary level as they relate to student achievement growth. The determination of student achievement growth was measured by examining American College Testing (ACT) composite scores from one year to the next. A final analysis was completed to determine the evidence of a relationship over two years of study.</p><p> A further discussion of research results, their role in the larger field of student growth research, and suggestions for future research were provided. The summary of the research findings was shared regarding student achievement growth in relation to the proportion of the district's budget for the instructional expenditures, size of the district, type of district, income level of student families, teacher experience level, and teacher salary level. </p>

This study described and analyzed the political decision-making process by which Florida enacted educational capital outlay reform in 1980 and 1981. A conceptual framework adapted from political systems and allocative theory was used to examine the policy-making process. Viewing public school capital outlay policy as a dependent variable, a qualitative hypothesis-generating case study approach employing participant-observer and interview methodologies, was developed. / The sixteen a posteriori hypotheses formulated, based upon actual Florida events, are summarized as follows: (1) Reform will be prompted by inter-related pressures and supports for change which indominately influence the entire policy-making process. Pressure-related hypotheses deal with inefficient, difficult to predict, and inequitably distributed revenues; better decision-making information needs; and the absence of judicial impact. Support-related hypotheses deal with internal and external studies, and key legislators and staff. (2) Cooperative bill-drafting efforts among the Legislature, Governor's office, and Department of Education staff will reduce conflict and serve to identify and clarify substantive conflict areas. Related hypotheses deal with inter- est group involvement, and legislative committee strategy. (3) Increased state taxes, reduced ad valorem taxes, inter-district fiscal equity, and increased home rule will shape the debate and contents of policy reform proposals. Related hypotheses deal with leadership disputes, the anticipated impact of political consequences on the legislative environment, and compromise proposals by neutral parties. (4) The final reform package cannot be selected until agreement is reached on the budget, taxes, and capital outlay projects lists. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-04, Section: A, page: 1034. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.

This study investigated the extent to which student affairs offices and university development offices worked together and independently, to raise funds for student extracurricular activities. Survey research was conducted on 159 public institutions with enrollments of 10,000 or more students. Both development and student affairs offices at these institutions were asked to respond to the survey. There was a 67 percent return rate consisting of responses from 100 development offices and 110 student affairs offices. It was found that both offices generally perceived raising external funds for student extracurricular activities as shared goals. A theory of cooperation was utilized to determine if the offices worked cooperatively, competitively, or independently to raise such funds. / Neither office regarded the other in competition to raise funds for extracurricular activities. The offices were perceived to work cooperatively or independently. For specific extracurricular activities, student affairs offices perceived an independent relationship whereas development offices perceived a cooperative relationship between the offices. Consistent with the theory, offices that were more successful fund-raisers had higher cooperation than did low fund-raising offices. A statistically significant difference was also found between high and low-fund-raising offices regarding independence. The low fund-raising group was low on independence, while the high fund-raising group was high on the independent effort. This finding was inconsistent with the theory regarding independence. One would expect the low fund-raising group to be high on the independent effort since it was low on the cooperative effort. Similarly, the high fund-raising group would be expected to be low on the independent effort. / Demographic findings are also provided in this study regarding fund-raising for specific extracurricular activities and sources of external funds. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-10, Section: A, page: 3452. / Major Professor: Jon C. Dalton. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.

This study presents the theoretical and empirical foundations of a proposed alternative revenue source to finance K-12 education in the state of Florida. It provides the philosophical perspectives of public funding of education in the context of presenting the need for government support of educational services. The problem that the state has been experiencing in the lack of adequate and stable funding source for K-12 education is then introduced. The study then moves on to discuss possible alternatives to the existing revenue source. Using the pre-determined level of state K-12 expenditures, a household income tax is introduced as a possible alternative. The proposed tax is evaluated in terms of the "net direct benefits" received by the various income groups. The impact of the tax by region along with other district characteristics is examined to detect its compliance with the state funding program. Net benefits derived by households with schoolage children are estimated using various proxies to predict the impact of the tax. The second part of the study draws implications from applying a discrete choice statistical model to a state survey in order to assess the willingness of the voting public to support the proposed tax structure. The political economy of the public's perception of the state fiscal problem and the need to solve it through the proposed new structure is explored. The conclusion draws implications for adopting such a tax, especially when it is specifically earmarked for state K-12 education. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-12, Section: A, page: 4626. / Major Professor: Richard Kraft. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

In recent years, financial support for academic libraries has been inadequate to meet the many demands that these types of institutions face. The library literature has increasingly recommended that libraries become involved in fund raising activities in order to supplement the support they receive from their parent institution. However, little is known regarding what type of fund raising program is best suited for a particular type of institution. The purpose of this study is to investigate how pervasive fund raising activities are at academic libraries in the United States, to ascertain what character they take, how they differ between sizes and types of institutions, how success may be related to these and other factors, and to determine what impact these efforts are having on library programs and operations. / Library directors were surveyed at 600 randomly selected colleges and universities, proportionally stratified by Carnegie Foundation type, and classified as being baccalaureate granting colleges or above. Usable responses were received from 517 institutions, or 86.1% of the libraries in the sample. / Responses indicate that approximately 66% of all academic libraries engage in fund raising activities, with research libraries being more likely to engage in fund raising than other types of libraries. Most libraries take part in fund raising activities because of the rising cost of information technology, along with the fact that they are encouraged to do so by their parent institution. They engage in a wide variety of activities in order to raise funds. The size and type of institution appears to be a significant factor in which types of fund raising activities are engaged in and how successful they are. / This report examines which types of fund raising activities are most successful, how fund raising income is utilized by academic libraries, how fund raising efforts are organized and staffed, what role friends of the library groups play in fund raising initiatives, how fund raising is related to levels of support from the parent institution, and why some libraries choose not to engage in fund raising. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-12, Section: A, page: 4594. / Major Professor: John N. DePew. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.