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Performance funding is a method of funding public institutions based not on inputs, such as enrollments, but on outcomes, such as retention, degree completion, and job placement. The principal rationale for performance funding has been that performance funding will prod institutions to be more effective and efficient, particularly in a time of increasing demands on higher education and increasingly straitened state finances. Critics of performance funding have warned that it could potentially provide state officials with an excuse to cut back on the regular state funding of higher education and at the same time provide college officials with an incentive to raise their retention and graduation rates by becoming more selective in their admissions. This report examines in detail the origins of state performance funding in six states: Florida, Illinois, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington. These states were chosen for analysis because they have considerably different state performance funding systems and histories as well as higher education governance arrangements, political systems, political cultures, and social characteristics - all of which enables the authors to look at the formation of state performance funding systems from a wide variety of angles. Interestingly, analysis reveals that there are striking similarities among these six states, particularly in terms of who were the main supporters and opponents, what beliefs animated them, and what political openings allowed policy entrepreneurs to put performance funding on the decision making agendas of state governments. This analysis yields some important lessons for policymakers, which are discussed at the conclusion of this paper.

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Using data obtained from interviews and program websites at Washington community and technical colleges, the authors of this study examine the structure of community college career-technical programs in allied health, business and marketing, computer and information studies, and mechanics and repair. A framework for structure with four dimensions - program alignment, program prescription, information quality, and active program advising and support - is used to examine the practices of relatively high- and low-performing colleges within each field of study. The allied health, computer and information science, and mechanics and repair programs were found to be highly structured; the business and marketing programs were found to have a moderate level of structure. Overall, there was limited evidence of a connection between program structure and program performance.

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More than one third of college-educated workers have a license that provides the right to practice a particular occupation. In contrast to certificates, these licenses, serving either as a productivity signal or acting as a restrictive practice, are associated with significantly higher earnings. Thus, it is possible that some part of the returns to college are in fact returns to licensing. In this paper, the authors identify the effects of licenses on a set of labor market outcomes for the college-educated workforce using newly available national Current Population Survey data merged with US Department of Labor. The results show significant discrepancies between individual self-reported licensing rates and state-mandated licensing requirements across occupations. Findings indicate significant advantages from licensing in terms of earnings and labor market participation (hours worked). Moreover, controlling for licensing does not significantly reduce the measured returns to college. Licenses convey economic benefits even in occupations where they are not required. In contrast to prior studies, the current study also finds that licenses reduce wage dispersion across the college-educated workforce.

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Enrolling more than 6 million students each fall, community colleges carry out a crucial function in higher education by providing access to college, including baccalaureate opportunities, occupational education, remedial education, and other educational services. At the same time, community colleges face great challenges that have elicited calls for major reforms. This paper begins by discussing the social roles and organization of community colleges in the United States, their main social contributions, and the challenges they face. It then describes and evaluates the sweeping policy proposals that have been made to address these challenges.

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