Impacts of Tennessee's Performance-Based Funding Policy on STEM Degree Production at Four-Year Universities: A Longitudinal Analysis Using a Difference-in-Differences Design

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Abstract

Impacts of Tennessee's Performance-Based Funding Policy on STEM Degree Production at Four-Year Universities: A Longitudinal Analysis Using a Difference-in-Differences Design

Within a broader national effort to expand college completion, there has been a focus on increasing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degree production. To address this, many states have turned to performance-based funding (PBF), which ties a portion of state funds to institutional performance for public colleges. PBF has been criticized for having little to no impact on student outcomes, as well as potential unintended consequences causing inequities among underrepresented students. Regarding STEM degree completions specifically, PBF can reduce the number of degrees produced for minorities and women because of potential gaming of the system to increase completion for degrees with less rigor. This dissertation examines whether Tennessee’s adoption of PBF in 2010 is associated with changes in STEM degree production at public four-year universities. The study investigates the policy’s impact on total number of degrees awarded and the number and proportion of bachelor’s degrees awarded in STEM by both ethnicity/race and gender. To address the primary research questions, I draw on institutional-level data from the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and additional federal datasets for academic years 2006-2007 to 2018-2019. I use a difference-in-differences quasi-experimental design to compare total and STEM degree production outcomes in Tennessee for years prior to and after PBF implementation to comparison states that did not implement PBF in similar regions over the same time period. From the implications of findings, recommendations include equalizing capacities of universities and including racially conscious measures and STEM degree completion metrics.

Author

• Lynneah Brown, The Penn State University