Thirty states currently tie funding of higher education to performance indicators.
The state legislature's higher education committee is exploring the possibility of adopting an outcome-based funding model for Connecticut's public colleges and universities.
Thirty states currently tie funding of higher education to performance indicators: things like graduation rates, course completion, and retention of minority and low income students. The goals and amount of funding vary widely from state to state.
North Dakota, for example, ties nearly all of its base funding for higher education to number of credit-hours completed by students, while Illinois ties less than one percent of its funding on institutional outcomes.
The legislature's Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee wanted to find out from experts how outcome-based funding works, and whether it's been a success in the states that use it. Education policy specialist Martha Snyder said the outcome-based model promotes major changes in the institutions affected.
"There was a reported increase in the use of data in institutional planning," Snyder said, "and aligning institution policies and investments with the overall objectives, so a lot of internal restructuring."
Dennis Jones, president of the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems advised that any outcome-based model for Connecticut should use the retention and success of adult students as a performance metric. "That population that maybe never finished high school, that need skills to get back into the work force to earn a living wage," said Jones, "and there's not much in this state that really addresses that population."
The committee is currently considering a bill that would create a task force to develop an outcome-based model for Connecticut's public colleges.
Watch CT-N's coverage of the committee's informational presentation on outcome-based financing below:
