State funding traditionally supports public colleges based on enrollment numbers. That’s all well and good (more students cost more money) but many worry this situation doesn’t push colleges to improve.
Why not support colleges based on graduation rates? The idea is that this would spur colleges to get better. Ohio is working on it. According to an article by Christopher Magan in the Dayton Daily News:
Last year, Ohio began transitioning from paying state colleges taxpayer subsidies that were based historically on enrollment to a formula that weighs heavily on whether students complete the classes they take.
The new formula has some detractors. Unselective Ohio public colleges worry that the new formula will punish them for enrolling students who need more help to get students to graduation. Other critics suggest that rewarding college specifically for graduating students may eventually push schools to award degrees too easily. But even Education Secretary Arne Duncan seems somewhat interested in a new funding formula. [Image via]
