<p> One in five federal student loan borrowers today is enrolled in income-driven loan repayment (IDR), a set of safety net programs in which loan payment amounts are tied to borrowers&rsquo; incomes. Policymakers across the political spectrum support expanding IDR as a way of reducing loan default and encouraging borrowers to work in public service careers, though there is little evidence of the effects of IDR on borrowers&rsquo; outcomes. Through the lenses of human capital theory and risk aversion theory, this study investigates two key gaps in our knowledge about IDR in comparison to other repayment plans: whether IDR borrowers&rsquo; make different career choices and whether IDR borrowers are more successful at paying their loans. Using the National Center for Education Statistics&rsquo; Baccalaureate and Beyond dataset (B&amp;B:08/12), I weighted borrowers by their propensity to enroll in IDR, based on family, institutional, communities, and political and economic characteristics. This analysis found that IDR borrowers are statistically significantly more likely to be women, of Hispanic origin, and from low-income households. IDR borrowers are no more likely to pursue public service careers four years after graduation, but they are substantially more likely to be in repayment as opposed to being in default, forbearance, or any other loan status. The total estimated costs of loan repayment are more varied for IDR borrowers than for borrowers in other plans. Borrowers of color in IDR are likely to pay more than White borrowers in IDR. I conclude with a discussion of the implications for policy, research, and practice, including how policy makers and researchers should interpret the tradeoffs in these results.</p><p>

<p> Today 17 elite private colleges in the U.S. have offered no-loan policies, which replace student loans with grants, scholarships and/or work-study in the financial aid packages awarded to all undergraduate students eligible for financial aid. Generally, the goal of these policies is to increase the socioeconomic diversity of campuses and to reduce the amount students borrow to finance their education. However, since the 2007&ndash;2008 credit crisis two colleges eliminated their no-loan policies for all students on financial aid and several restricted the policies to their lower-income students on financial aid. Therefore, this qualitative case study explored the financial implications of no-loan financial aid at private elite liberal arts colleges. </p><p> Leaders from various offices involved in planning and implementing no-loan policies at four colleges were interviewed: two campuses that maintained their full no-loan policies after the financial crisis of 2007&ndash;2008 and two that did not. The leaders were interviewed to understand how no-loan policies were financed and managed; how they affected operating budgets and other academic priorities; and how they were communicated to college constituents. </p><p> Findings from this study provided a more nuanced understanding of why some schools maintained and others retracted no-loan financial aid. Contrary to reports in the news, endowment losses, while symbolic of financial distress, were not the only reason that schools retracted no-loan policies. Endowment losses in the context of other internal and external budget pressures resulting from the credit crisis and Great Recession led to this decision. Each college in this study made a series of tradeoffs in how to balance mission and market pressures in a new budget reality where all three of their primary revenue sources were constrained. These competing priorities included how to increase faculty lines and compensation, reduce teaching loads, fund capital projects, reduce student loan debt, and distribute scholarship aid to ensure proportional socioeconomic diversity on campus. Higher education policymakers and leaders can use this study&rsquo;s findings to improve institutional policies and practices in higher education finance.</p><p>

<p> <i>Revenue diversification</i> is a term that becomes more relevant as higher education institutions are confronted with increased regulation, competition, declining enrollments, and strained finances. A challenge that many institutions face is that expenditures are higher than revenues and increase faster than them. The term <i>Revenue diversification </i> seems obvious to higher education administration professionals, although they do not all define it the same way. For that reason, it needs a precise definition so that the industry genuinely can embrace the concept and thereby seek to generate more revenues to drive existing and innovative agendas. Indeed, a common understanding will allow universities to develop strategies to reduce the reliance on traditional tuition and fees. The study examines three not-for-profit institutions with a student population less than 5,000 that already are diversifying their revenue streams. The definition of leadership at each institution is compared with the strategies that have been implemented or proposed in order to understand whether there is alignment. The three cases&mdash;Stevenson University, Franklin &amp; Marshall College, and Oglethorpe University&mdash;respectively have the following story lines: 1) growth is the only possibility; 2) the current situation is one of stasis, and the way forward is unclear; 3) efforts must be undertaken to improve financial viability. In addition to the qualitative research, the study also encompasses an analysis of IPEDS that reflects how each institution is changing its revenues in comparison to a similarly situated group of institutions. The findings reveal that <i>Revenue diversification</i> is on everybody&rsquo;s mind, but the definition of the term is inconclusive. Leadership teams are trying to determine what revenue-diversification strategies will work for the institutions and its stakeholders to be able to offset expense increases. Identifying new revenue sources will entail pursuing non-historical revenue sources, which includes academic programs, services, property, institutional advancement, and more. The higher education environment is concerning to many of its member institutions, and by diversifying revenues, long-term viability can be secured.</p><p>

This study examined and evaluated the results of one Massachusetts school district's decision to provide special education services in the regular classroom through the implementation of a model of service delivery commonly called inclusion. This decision caused radical changes in how special education services were delivered to students who had wide-ranging special needs. This study examined the changes in perceptions about whether this new service delivery model was meeting the needs of the students receiving them, given their varied special needs, as well as cost and enrollment changes from 1993 to 1996. The perceptions of the respondents about the effectiveness of the special education services provided through the utilization of the new service delivery model indicated that it did not meet the needs of the students who received them. The respondents did, however, believe that there were increased social benefits for students who have disabilities who received their special education services through the utilization of the inclusion model. There were increases in the costs of providing special education services between 1993 and 1996 that were substantially higher than the comparable costs for providing regular education services. There were decreases in the enrollments in special education programs while, conversely, there were increases in the enrollments of regular education programs from 1993 to 1996. There were also some conclusions that can be presented about whether the utilization of this service delivery model maximized the utilization of educational resources. It did not seem that the inclusion model of providing special education services maximized the utilization of educational resources, nor did it appear that the inclusion model of providing special education services to students who have special needs was a cost-effective way to provide these services.

As state appropriations, once the primary public source of funding for higher education, have decreased, higher education institutions have attempted to increase the private funding they can generate in addition to increasing tuition. This shift from public to private sources of funding for public higher education institutions requires a better understanding of the relationship between these two sources of funding. The purpose of this study was to explore the change in philanthropic funding for public four-year higher education institutions from 2004–2018. It examined the relationship between state appropriations and philanthropic funding received by public four-year higher education institutions to determine if state appropriations were associated with philanthropic giving. It also investigated whether the relationship differed by institutional type and competitiveness to determine if it increased stratification among public higher education institutions. This study found that between 2004 and 2018, total philanthropic funding per FTE increased while state appropriations per FTE decreased. The main reason for these trends were decreases during the recession, where state appropriations per FTE decreased 21% while total philanthropic funding per FTE only decreased 3%. All types of philanthropic funding had a U-shaped growth curve showing a decline then increase except for foundation philanthropic funding per FTE, which grew linearly. State appropriations were found to be associated with the amount of philanthropic funding received. An increase in state appropriations was associated with an increase in philanthropic funding from 2004–2010, but a decrease in philanthropic funding from 2011–2018. There were significant differences by Carnegie classification and flagship status but none for Barron’s selectivity. There were also differences based on donor types. The findings add to the research on donor motivations in higher education by showing the differences in growth curves for different donor types. They also add to the literature on philanthropic funding during recessions by analyzing giving trends before, during, and after the Great Recession of 2008. Finally, results show that there was most likely an increase in the stratification of public higher education institutions as they shifted to more private sources of funding, as philanthropic funding is more unequally distributed than state appropriations.

In-depth interviews were conducted with five human service professionals who worked in a community-based residential group home for developmentally disabled adults. The interviewing process used a phenomenological approach which focused on the perceptions of the human service professionals. "Perceptions" relate to the personal interpretations and evaluations that the human service professionals made of their work experiences. The interview process consisted of three ninety-minute interviews with each participant. The first interview centered around the question, "How did you come to work as a human service professional?" The second interview focused upon the question, "What is it like for you to work at a community-based residential group home for developmentally disabled adults?" And the third interview asked, "What does deinstitutionalization mean to you?" The interviews were audio-recorded and later transcribed. After significant transcript material had been identified, it was then synthesized in two ways: first, as profiles of the participants; and second, as excerpts from the interviews which were woven together with emergent themes that connected the experiences of the participants. Seven themes relative to their experiences at the community-based residential group home emerged from the data. The seven emergent themes that evolved from the data were: (1) Are private sector community-based group homes for the developmentally disabled adult truly independent, or are they a cleverly disguised extension of state government? (2) Community-based group homes, unlike the large state institutions, should impress family and community values upon their clients. These values are critical to the healthy and productive independence of clients. (3) The quality of care is much better in community-based group homes than in large institutions. (4) Staff development and staff selection are critical to the success of the program. (5) Members of the public and family members of some clients resent the good quality of life that the clients have. (6) Community-based group homes have a positive economic impact upon the local community and that fosters positive integration into the community. (7) Can a community-based program such as ours, which is driven by the needs of the clients, maintain its unique identity and philosophy?

<p> The rising cost of higher education has positioned federal financial aid as an inescapable part of the college experience for a growing number of incoming students (Baum, 2006). In the 2014&ndash;2015 academic year, the U.S. Department of Education allocated more than $150 billion of federal financial aid for eligible college students (Federal Student Aid, 2014). Although billions of dollars in federal student aid have been made available, finances or lack thereof, remain an oft-cited barrier to student success (Long &amp; Riley, 2007; Myers, 2008). Community college student support services such as financial aid advising, contribute to promoting successful student outcomes (Cooper, 2010). More research is needed regarding the role of the campus financial aid adviser as it relates to community college student outcomes (McKinney &amp; Roberts, 2012). </p><p> The purpose of this study was to use the theory of student engagement as defined by Kuh et al. (2006) as it relates financial aid advising to the engagement of community college students. Ex post facto data from the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) 2014 Cohort was used to investigate whether a difference in student engagement existed between students who reported use of financial aid advising and those who did not. The researcher also examined the relationship between the frequency of use, satisfaction with, and importance of financial aid advising and student engagement as well as the five CCSSE benchmarks of effective practice. </p><p> The results of the study show students who indicated use of financial aid advising reported significantly higher levels of student engagement than those who did not. The researcher found weak to moderate positive relationships between the frequency of use, satisfaction with, and importance of financial aid advising and student engagement. Additionally, each of the financial aid advising variables served as predictors of at least one CCSSE benchmark and student engagement. These findings provide meaningful information regarding the relationship between financial aid advising, particularly student satisfaction with the advising, and student engagement.</p><p>

This thesis describes the profile characteristics and role of the chief business officer in colleges and universities in the northeastern United States. Part I describes the "who" dimension of the CBOs. It compares the age, sex, race, length of employment in present position, and the highest academic degree held by the CBOs. Part II of the study examines the "what" dimension of the CBOs. This part focusses on the level of responsibility CBOs actually have and the level of responsibility they think the position should have for them to function most effectively. The data collected compared the public and private institutions of higher education. The population studied consisted of chief business officers of public and private higher education institutions with enrollments of 1,000 or more. The data were gathered through a mail questionnaire. Major findings of the study are: (1) The overwhelming majority of CBOs are middle-aged, White males. (2) The majority of CBOs hold earned graduate degrees in business administration. Many CBOs hold more than one graduate degree and the previous experience in college business administration was believed to be the best background for the job. (3) Fiscal and financial management duties were judged the most important functions of the CBO. (4) Among the fiscal and financial management duties, adhering to the budgeting procedure was the single most important job function, followed by fiscal and management audits and internal control. The findings confirmed the general belief that, with increasing financial pressure, higher education has to be particularly sensitive to the fiscal and procedural accountability. (5) The majority of the CBOs would like to get more involved in institutional policy-making. This may be a major finding because it seems contrary to the common belief that CBOs do not like to get involved in institutional policy-making functions and academic administrative management. (6) There was very little difference between the role functions of CBOs in public and private institutions.

Existe um consenso na literatura segundo o qual as habilidades, os conhecimentos e a capacidade dos indivíduos produzem um aumento no nível de capital humano, que é elemento-chave para o progresso econômico de um país e de sua qualidade de vida. O Estado procura, de maneira geral, criar formas de potencializar os investimentos destinados à educação. A forma como esses recursos são alocados e distribuídos vai determinar a eficiência do gasto público. A eficiência da educação pode ser expressa por indicadores que refletem a qualidade da atividade educacional, comparados com os recursos aplicados. A definição dessa eficiência depende de vários fatores. Alguns deles são controlados pelo gestor; outros não, tais como: background familiar, característica do aluno e dos professores. Além desses aspectos, há também aqueles de natureza política que podem influenciar a estrutura de todas as relações intergovernamentais de um país, principalmente aquelas referentes ao financiamento dos serviços de educação. As relações definidas no pacto federativo têm implicações nos resultados da educação, na medida em que se efetivam as bases de negociação. Na educação brasileira, há alguns problemas intergovernamentais na definição de diretrizes, principalmente nas transferências de recursos. Muitas vezes, as decisões são tomadas unilateralmente pelo governo central, que intervém no montante de recursos a serem transferidos e na forma como eles devem ser aplicados, diminuindo a autonomia do município, bem como desconsiderando o conhecimento do gestor acerca das reais necessidades da comunidade e as especificidades locais. O objetivo desta pesquisa é mensurar a eficiência da aplicação dos gastos em educação e procurar identificar relações empíricas que validem a tese de que as transferências condicionais da educação fundamental são desfavoráveis à eficiência da aplicação de recursos. A fundamentação teórica para esta tese teve na teoria do federalismo fiscal sua principal ancoragem. Subsidiariamente, a teoria econômica da educação ajudou na compreensão da problemática e na definição das variáveis utilizadas para mensurar a eficiência da educação fundamental. Na parte empírica da pesquisa, mensurou-se a eficiência utilizando a técnica da Análise Envoltória de Dados em painel, denominada de DEA dinâmica DSBM (Dinamic Slacks Based Model), com dados do período de 2004 a 2009, referentes a 3.013 municípios brasileiros. Essa fase foi desenvolvida em dois estágios. No primeiro, utilizaram-se os insumos controlados pelo gestor (custo por aluno) e o Índice de Desenvolvimento da Educação Básica - IDEB, como produto da educação. No segundo, ajustaram-se os escores de eficiência obtidos no primeiro estágio, acrescentando ao modelo as variáveis não-controladas pelo gestor, mas que influenciavam a eficiência. A partir desses ajustamentos no poder discricionário dos escores de eficiência técnica, foi feita uma regressão GEE (Generalized Estimating Equations), tendo como variáveis explicativas da eficiência as transferências condicionais da educação fundamental, tais como: o Fundo de Manutenção e Desenvolvimento da Educação Básica (FUNDEB) e o Fundo Nacional de Desenvolvimento da Educação (FNDE). Os resultados revelaram que, de forma geral, as transferências intergovernamentais condicionais direcionadas à educação afetam negativamente a eficiência dos gastos públicos no ensino fundamental, confirmando a tese proposta. Destaque-se, ainda, que a autonomia financeira tem um efeito positivo na eficiência da educação. Por fim, há evidências empíricas para afirmar que os municípios considerados mais eficientes têm maior custo por aluno, maiores índices de desenvolvimento da educação básica e maior número de alunos matriculados. Acredita-se que esta pesquisa possa proporcionar uma reflexão acerca da estrutura de financiamento da educação, especialmente no que diz respeito às condicionalidades de recursos específicos ao ensino fundamental. / There is a consensus in the literature that skills, knowledge and ability of individuals produce an increased level of human capital that is the key to the economic progress of a country and the quality of life. The State seeks, in general, to create ways to leverage investments to education. The way these resources are allocated and distributed will determine the efficiency of public spending. The efficiency of education can be expressed by indicators that reflect the quality of the educational activity, compared to the resources applied. The definition of this efficiency depends on several factors, some of them are controlled by the manager and others not, such as family background, characteristics of students and teachers. Besides these aspects, there are also those of political nature that may influence the structure of all intergovernmental relations of a country, especially those relating to financing of education services. The relations defined in the federal pact have implications for the results of education to the extent that accomplishes the basis for negotiation. In Brazilian education, there are some intergovernmental problems in the definition of guidelines, especially in resource transfers. Often, the decisions are made unilaterally by the central government that intervenes in the amount of resources to be transferred and the way these resources should be applied, decreasing the municipal autonomy as well as ignoring the manager\'s knowledge about the real needs of the community and local specificity. The objective of this research is to measure the efficiency of the application of spending on education and seek to identify empirical relations that validate the thesis that the conditional transfer of basic education are unfavorable to the efficient use of resources. The theoretical basis for this thesis had on the theory of fiscal federalism its main anchor. Alternatively, the economic theory of education has helped in understanding the problem and definition of variables used to measure the efficiency of education. In the empirical part of this research, the efficiency was measured using Data Envelopment Analysis in panel, called Dynamic DEA DSBM (Slacks Based Dynamic Model) with data for the period 2004 to 2009, relating to 3013 municipalities. This phase was conducted in two stages. At first stage, we used the inputs controlled by the manager (cost per student) and the Index of Development of Basic Education - IDEB, as a product of education. In the second stage, we adjusted the scores obtained in the first stage adding to the model uncontrollable variables by the manager, but that affected the efficiency. From these adjustments at the discretion of the technical efficiency scores, was made a regression GEE (Generalized Estimating Equations), having as explanatory variables of the efficiency the conditional transfer of basic education such as the Fund for the Development of Basic Education (FUNDEB) and the Fund for the National Education Development (FNDE). The results revealed that, in general, that conditionals transfers to education negatively affect the efficiency of public spending in basic education, confirmed the thesis proposed. Also, it should be noted that financial autonomy has a positive effect on the efficiency of education. Finally, there is empirical evidence to argue that municipalities considered more efficient have higher cost per student, larger IDEB and larger number of students enrolled. We believed that this research can provide a reflection on the structure of education funding, especially with regard to the conditionalities of specific resources to basic education.

Existe um consenso na literatura segundo o qual as habilidades, os conhecimentos e a capacidade dos indivíduos produzem um aumento no nível de capital humano, que é elemento-chave para o progresso econômico de um país e de sua qualidade de vida. O Estado procura, de maneira geral, criar formas de potencializar os investimentos destinados à educação. A forma como esses recursos são alocados e distribuídos vai determinar a eficiência do gasto público. A eficiência da educação pode ser expressa por indicadores que refletem a qualidade da atividade educacional, comparados com os recursos aplicados. A definição dessa eficiência depende de vários fatores. Alguns deles são controlados pelo gestor; outros não, tais como: background familiar, característica do aluno e dos professores. Além desses aspectos, há também aqueles de natureza política que podem influenciar a estrutura de todas as relações intergovernamentais de um país, principalmente aquelas referentes ao financiamento dos serviços de educação. As relações definidas no pacto federativo têm implicações nos resultados da educação, na medida em que se efetivam as bases de negociação. Na educação brasileira, há alguns problemas intergovernamentais na definição de diretrizes, principalmente nas transferências de recursos. Muitas vezes, as decisões são tomadas unilateralmente pelo governo central, que intervém no montante de recursos a serem transferidos e na forma como eles devem ser aplicados, diminuindo a autonomia do município, bem como desconsiderando o conhecimento do gestor acerca das reais necessidades da comunidade e as especificidades locais. O objetivo desta pesquisa é mensurar a eficiência da aplicação dos gastos em educação e procurar identificar relações empíricas que validem a tese de que as transferências condicionais da educação fundamental são desfavoráveis à eficiência da aplicação de recursos. A fundamentação teórica para esta tese teve na teoria do federalismo fiscal sua principal ancoragem. Subsidiariamente, a teoria econômica da educação ajudou na compreensão da problemática e na definição das variáveis utilizadas para mensurar a eficiência da educação fundamental. Na parte empírica da pesquisa, mensurou-se a eficiência utilizando a técnica da Análise Envoltória de Dados em painel, denominada de DEA dinâmica DSBM (Dinamic Slacks Based Model), com dados do período de 2004 a 2009, referentes a 3.013 municípios brasileiros. Essa fase foi desenvolvida em dois estágios. No primeiro, utilizaram-se os insumos controlados pelo gestor (custo por aluno) e o Índice de Desenvolvimento da Educação Básica - IDEB, como produto da educação. No segundo, ajustaram-se os escores de eficiência obtidos no primeiro estágio, acrescentando ao modelo as variáveis não-controladas pelo gestor, mas que influenciavam a eficiência. A partir desses ajustamentos no poder discricionário dos escores de eficiência técnica, foi feita uma regressão GEE (Generalized Estimating Equations), tendo como variáveis explicativas da eficiência as transferências condicionais da educação fundamental, tais como: o Fundo de Manutenção e Desenvolvimento da Educação Básica (FUNDEB) e o Fundo Nacional de Desenvolvimento da Educação (FNDE). Os resultados revelaram que, de forma geral, as transferências intergovernamentais condicionais direcionadas à educação afetam negativamente a eficiência dos gastos públicos no ensino fundamental, confirmando a tese proposta. Destaque-se, ainda, que a autonomia financeira tem um efeito positivo na eficiência da educação. Por fim, há evidências empíricas para afirmar que os municípios considerados mais eficientes têm maior custo por aluno, maiores índices de desenvolvimento da educação básica e maior número de alunos matriculados. Acredita-se que esta pesquisa possa proporcionar uma reflexão acerca da estrutura de financiamento da educação, especialmente no que diz respeito às condicionalidades de recursos específicos ao ensino fundamental. / There is a consensus in the literature that skills, knowledge and ability of individuals produce an increased level of human capital that is the key to the economic progress of a country and the quality of life. The State seeks, in general, to create ways to leverage investments to education. The way these resources are allocated and distributed will determine the efficiency of public spending. The efficiency of education can be expressed by indicators that reflect the quality of the educational activity, compared to the resources applied. The definition of this efficiency depends on several factors, some of them are controlled by the manager and others not, such as family background, characteristics of students and teachers. Besides these aspects, there are also those of political nature that may influence the structure of all intergovernmental relations of a country, especially those relating to financing of education services. The relations defined in the federal pact have implications for the results of education to the extent that accomplishes the basis for negotiation. In Brazilian education, there are some intergovernmental problems in the definition of guidelines, especially in resource transfers. Often, the decisions are made unilaterally by the central government that intervenes in the amount of resources to be transferred and the way these resources should be applied, decreasing the municipal autonomy as well as ignoring the manager\'s knowledge about the real needs of the community and local specificity. The objective of this research is to measure the efficiency of the application of spending on education and seek to identify empirical relations that validate the thesis that the conditional transfer of basic education are unfavorable to the efficient use of resources. The theoretical basis for this thesis had on the theory of fiscal federalism its main anchor. Alternatively, the economic theory of education has helped in understanding the problem and definition of variables used to measure the efficiency of education. In the empirical part of this research, the efficiency was measured using Data Envelopment Analysis in panel, called Dynamic DEA DSBM (Slacks Based Dynamic Model) with data for the period 2004 to 2009, relating to 3013 municipalities. This phase was conducted in two stages. At first stage, we used the inputs controlled by the manager (cost per student) and the Index of Development of Basic Education - IDEB, as a product of education. In the second stage, we adjusted the scores obtained in the first stage adding to the model uncontrollable variables by the manager, but that affected the efficiency. From these adjustments at the discretion of the technical efficiency scores, was made a regression GEE (Generalized Estimating Equations), having as explanatory variables of the efficiency the conditional transfer of basic education such as the Fund for the Development of Basic Education (FUNDEB) and the Fund for the National Education Development (FNDE). The results revealed that, in general, that conditionals transfers to education negatively affect the efficiency of public spending in basic education, confirmed the thesis proposed. Also, it should be noted that financial autonomy has a positive effect on the efficiency of education. Finally, there is empirical evidence to argue that municipalities considered more efficient have higher cost per student, larger IDEB and larger number of students enrolled. We believed that this research can provide a reflection on the structure of education funding, especially with regard to the conditionalities of specific resources to basic education.