Dive Brief:
- Funding formulas in Indiana, Ohio, and Tennessee are causing four-year public colleges and universities in those states to become more selective about the students they enroll, according to a study from the Teacher’s College at Columbia University.
- In the three states studied, much of the state funding for public higher education institutions is tied to the schools’ graduation and persistence rates, the Chronicle of Higher Education reports.
- The new state funding formulas are also leading colleges to weaken their academic standards and reduce cooperation with schools they are now competing with for money.
Dive Insight:
The unintended consequences also include new compliance costs and lower morale for faculty and staff. Performance-based funding at the state and, as proposed by President Obama, federal levels is prompting worries that colleges won’t admit students who could potentially hurt their ratings and funding levels, including unprepared students from minority and low-income groups. Community college faculty and staff are concerned that the trend may affect their schools as well, according to the study.