The Enactment of Market-based Higher Education Programs in Texas, California, and New York

• In Event: 066 - Section on Political Sociology Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 09. The Politics of Policy

Abstract

The crisis in college affordability has become a politically salient issue and has garnered a variety of policy responses. Between 1986 and 2000 all US states considered the enactment of tax-advantaged tuition investment programs, or programs incentivizing investment in savings and prepaid tuition trust accounts used for future educational expenses. Tax-advantaged tuition programs are a prime example of the larger move to find market solutions to state fiscal and social crises. A variety of contingent factors have led to adoption of tax-advantaged savings programs nationwide while under half of states have adopted prepaid tuition programs, a policy that requires states to guarantee investment accounts with tax dollars. Using a three-state case study I argue that extant higher education fiscal policies leave policy gaps that can provide openings for the enactment of new policies. Specifically, Texas policymakers adopted a prepaid program while New York policymakers did not because Texas had been unable to legislate state-funded financial aid for low- and middle-income Texans, leaving a policy gap lawmakers were eager to fill. I also show that the political capital of policy proposers led to divergent policy adoption outcomes. Borrowing from social movement literature I argue that the perceived expertise of prepaid policy proposers was decisive in adoption of a prepaid program in Texas but not California.

Author

• Jennifer Marie Nations, University of California-San Diego