Exploring the Relationship Between Performance-Based Funding Design and Underrepresented Student Enrollment at Community Colleges

• In Event: Perspectives on Community Colleges

Abstract

An increasing number of states are adopting performance-based funding (PBF) systems for their public colleges, but there are concerns that PBF dissuades colleges from recruiting and enrolling students with a lower likelihood of success. Some states have attempted to address this concern by providing additional funds for successfully serving low-income, underrepresented minority, or adult students, but the effectiveness of these particular provisions has yet to be examined. I use generalized difference-in-difference panel regression techniques using data from the 2004-05 to 2014-15 academic years to examine whether there is a relationship between PBF policy design at at-risk student enrollment. I find little evidence that PBF policies, regardless of their design characteristics, have a relationship with at-risk student enrollment levels.

Author

• Robert Kelchen, Seton Hall University