Leveraging for Equity: A Multi-State Study of Higher Education Funding Initiatives

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 9:50 am Four Seasons Ballroom 4
  In Roundtable Session: Financing Student Success: From Promise Programs to Loan Reduction Initiatives (Table 7)

Abstract

Some states have made efforts to address their racial enrollment and attainment gaps in higher education through their higher education funding programs. There are two distinct and well-known higher education funding approaches—outcomes-based funding to institutions, and tuition discount/Promise programs for students—that states often use to address ongoing racial disparities in college access and success. This research examines how these initiatives are experienced by state policymakers and institutional leaders, and the extent to which these strategies are designed to improve equitable student outcomes and/or redistribute resources to MSIs and HBCUs. Using examples from Minnesota, New Jersey, and North Carolina, this study examines strengths, challenges, and opportunities for each, and how they interact when implemented in the same state.

Authors

• Kri Burkander, Research for Action

• Shafiqua Little, MEF Associates

• Mycaeri Atkinson, Teachers College, Columbia University