proposed legislation, or defeated legislation, to repeal the ability to receive in-state tuition benefits for undocumented students and only one has been successful (Oklahoma). Many states continue to debate whether undocumented students can enroll in two- and four-year state institutions, while fewer states are considering legislation making undocumented students eligible for financial aid; currently only Texas and New Mexico offer such benefits. The courts, at all levels and in several states, have upheld the ability for states to make the decision and to enact legislation to provide instate tuition for undocumented students (Russell, 2011).
Titus, M. A. (2009, July-August). The production of bachelor’s degrees and financial aspects of state higher education policy: A dynamic analysis. The Journal of Higher Education, 4(80), 439-460. Marvin A. Titus (2009), in The Journal of Higher Education, looks at the impact of state funding of higher education and its impact on the number of students pursuing and receiving bachelor’s degrees, and provides a comparison to higher education funding against other state-funded programs, such as welfare. Utilizing his quantitative study, several federal policy and program studies, and U.S. census and labor statistics from 1992-2004 involving 49 states with public and private institutions, Titus formulates the research question: “How do selected financial aspects of state higher education policy influence the production of bachelor’s degrees within a state?” (p. 446). This article uses theoretical approaches from the higher education production function, principal agent model, human capital theory, and several economic theories and approaches to frame the impact levels and quantitative variables of federal studies and statistics (Titus, 2009). The research offers several statistically significant conclusions and finds that funding state higher education is “complexly interrelated” (p. 457) with other funding priorities and external factors of the state (Titus, 2009). Notable conclusions are: • Tuition increases at four-year colleges typically follow state cuts in higher education. • State funds for public welfare and higher education are often direct competitors with one another. • States that currently have low numbers of bachelor’s degrees awarded are increasing the number of degrees awarded at a faster pace than other states.
• The overall number of bachelor degrees awarded is positively related to the amount of funding the state provides to higher education. • The amount of nonneed financial aid awarded is not statistically significant to the number of bachelor degrees awarded in the state.
Wilson Brenneman, M., Callan, P. M., Ewell, P. T., Finney, J. E., Jones, D. P., & Zis, S. (2010). Good policy, good practice II: Improving outcomes and productivity in higher education: A guide for policymakers. Retrieved from National Center for Higher Education Management Systems website: http://www.nchems.org/pubs/detail.php?id=135 Wilson Brenneman et al. (2010) offer a second installment of their report Good Policy, Good Practice, which draws on several research studies conducted by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems and the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. In their report, they take a two-part approach to addressing good practice—strategies for higher education administrators and strategies for state and federal policymakers. In Part I of Good Policy, Good Practice the authors identify data-driven strategies, programs, and practices that may enhance productivity and efficiencies in the academy. These strategies include developing partnerships with secondary educators to help students increase their level of college readiness, utilizing learning communities to engage students in deepened classroom learning, modifying existing curricular structures to include accelerated degree programs and online learning components, and utilizing competency-based education models. In Part II, the authors discuss potential policies that may have an impact in promoting good practice on college campuses. Such policies include development of financial incentives for colleges and universities to improve educational productivity, development of state-funded financial aid programs, and engaging in statewide policy audits to determine “the disconnect between current policies and the state’s goals for higher education” (p. 25). This research-based approach to higher education policy also provides many state and institutional examples of good practice sin making policy decisions that can have a positive affect on college student learning, retention, and graduation rates.
• Tuition increases do not influence the number of bachelor degrees awarded.
Fall 2011 / Perspectives
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